The best way to navigate metro area’s toll roads
Tollways get tricky, so don’t get caught unaware when you’re driving around the city
Traffic’s not a breeze in Houston, but it’s a heck of a lot easier when you put an EZ Tag in your car and cruise onto the tollways past the other cars. So long, suckers!
But what’s the difference between EZ Tag and TxTag? Can’t you just pay with cash if you don’t have one? And where can you get one?
That feeling, experienced by Houston newcomers and residents alike, was neatly summed up on social media forum Reddit earlier this year, when one disheartened user posted on the /r/Texas subreddit: “Your toll roads confuse and upset me.”
Here’s your explainer on how to get around Houston on the tollways and what to do when you accidentally violate the toll road laws.
Where are the tollways?
Sam Houston Tollway is the main tollway around the Houston area. There are plenty of others: the Katy Freeway toll lanes, Grand Parkway, Westpark Tollway, Tomball Tollway, Fort Bend Parkway and Hardy Toll Road. Many stretches of freeway include high-occupancy toll lanes for vehicles carrying at least two or three people.
If you would rather suffer through miserable traffic than cough up a few bucks to use the a toll road, your options are either to conduct all your business within the loop or turn on the “avoid tolls” feature on your chosen map app.
In Google Maps, tap the three-bar icon left of the search bar, then settings and then go to “Navigation” under “Getting Around.” In Waze, tap the cog above the search bar and then go to “Navigation” under “Driving Preferences.”
Apple Maps is trickier. On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings and select “Maps” from the list. To enable toll avoidance, you must tap “Driving and Navigation” and then “Avoid Tolls.”
How much do the tolls cost?
Depends on how far you go, how you’re paying and what vehicle you’re driving. Tolls are calculated by sensors at on-ramps, checkpoints and off-ramps. You pay the sum of charges for whatever distance you go.
Each toll authority sets its own rates, and there are different rates for people paying with something other than an electronic toll tag. On toll roads that accept cash or pay
by-mail, you may pay 5 to 25 cents more per checkpoint for not using one of the electronic tags.
The cost also goes up if you drive a vehicle with more than two axles or hitch a trailer to your vehicle.
For instance, if you get on Sam Houston Tollway at the Fallbrook Drive on-ramp in a two-axle sedan and got off the tollway at Hillcroft Avenue with an electronic tag, you owe $5.10. If you’re paying with cash, that’ll be $5.75. A three-axle vehicle would pay $11.75 regardless of payment form.
You can find the rates for the Texas Department of Transportation’s portions of Grand Parkway, Harris County Toll Road Authority and the Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority on each agency’s website.
TxTag, the state’s electronic toll tag, and EZ Tag, Houston’s toll tag, work on all the toll roads around the area. Tags with a reciprocal agreement are also eligible: Kansas, Oklahoma and Dallas’ tags work around here.
Toll rates occasionally tick up. Grand Parkway toll rates are slated to go up in price in 2020 after the Texas Transportation Commission approved new rates on Oct. 31, according to Houston Chronicle transportation reporter Dug Begley.
How do I pay tolls?
Houston’s toll roads all take electronic payments, and a select few portions of Sam Houston Tollway accept cash. But cash payment isn’t an option for those traveling late at night — on the west side of the tollway, it’s electronic-only from 11:30 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. Some booth operators shut down earlier than that.
Driving on a toll lane without payment could result in a violation invoice. If it’s a HCTRA toll road, first-time violators may be eligible for a fee reduction, usually in the form of paying either just the toll owed, or the toll plus a processing fee. It varies on a case-by-case basis.
The TxDOT toll roads are the only ones in the Houston area that allow pay-by-mail if you don’t have an existing toll account or pay by cash. And the only part that is pay-by-mail is the part of the Grand Parkway from I-10 in Katy to I-69 in Kingwood.
Do I pick EZ Tag or TxTag?
EZ Tag can be used in Texas, Oklahoma or Kansas and costs $15 for the tag. You must load $40 onto the tag to begin with and it reloads a minimum of $40 automatically when your balance dips below $10.
TxTag (pronounced Tex-tag) is good for the entire state and does not cost money for the tag. Like EZ Tag, you have to load $40 onto the tag to begin with, but it does not automatically force you into a reloading program. There is no required minimum balance as long as you enroll in the automatic reloading program.
If you don’t see yourself using toll roads for longer than a certain period, try the EZ Tag Express app (iOS, Android). The app is designed for drivers here for a short period of time — maybe you’re using a rental, or traveling here for work from out-of-state. Maybe you don’t see a point in having a long-term EZ Tag if you rarely venture outside of the loop.
Soon after registering my own EZ Tag to see how easy it was to do it (answer: doable and faster if you can get to one of the EZ Tag stores just outside of the loop), I realized that TxTag may have been the more cost-efficient option. Purchasing an EZ Tag still costs a few coffees.
Both tags will still be billed if you drive on Texas toll roads outside of their jurisdictions, with a few exceptions.
Check your toll tag bills frequently to make sure you haven’t been overcharged.
If you don’t want to maintain a minimum balance, you can consider the HCTRA’s partner pass, the Banc Pass. The Banc Pass, which costs $25 for the tag and $15 to prefund the tolls, allows you to reload using cash. The company also offers the PlusPass app for infrequent toll road users who don’t mind paying a 15 percent convenience fee to drive on through after the sensors scan their license plates.
How do I know if I’ve violated a toll fee?
If you know you accidentally drove through a Harris County tollway without a tag, you can scan your license plate on the agency’s website before the violation invoice arrives to the address where your car is registered. The transaction might not post for up to 10 business days. (The agency said the feature can only be used once every 365 days.)
But if you’ve accumulated any other toll violations, knowingly or not, you’ll be sent a bill in the mail for the fee plus the cost of breaking the rules ($10 per violation, as approved by the Harris County Commissioners Court). For example, if you have an unpaid HCTRA toll invoice that goes to collections — meaning you didn’t post payment within 45 days — the agency will tack on an extra $25 fee. Additional fees may accumulate if it escalates into a civil judgment.
HCTRA (281-875-3279), TxDOT (888-468-9824) and Fort Bend (855-999-2024) all allow drivers to pay online and have call centers to handle violations.
Toll authorities vary on sending bills to collections — KPRC reported in 2017 that HCTRA is likely to send a private law firm after you if you don’t pay within 45 days, and the costs increase if you take the agency to court. All in all, you could end up owing hundreds for skipping out on a couple of tolls.
The TxDOT and HCTRA did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Habitual toll violators on TxDOT roads may find their car registration renewals blocked. If law enforcement pulls over a vehicle with a hefty list of unpaid violations, they have the authority to impound the car, according to the agency.
Too long, didn’t read?
Just get a TxTag or EZ Tag, make sure it’s linked with a credit card to auto-load and save yourself the hours it took me to read all of the toll road operators’ rate pages.