Yesterday, we drove to Orlando so I could meet Cool Uncle to attend the Capital One Bowl. All that way to see the Gators lay a dinosaur egg, grrrr. I want a happy New Year, so let us never speak of the game again. We had good brotherly time though.
Sadly, the second most exciting part of New Years for me was acquiring a Sunpass. It’s a wireless device that pays tolls automatically so you don’t have to stop. This was a HUGE improvement over the previous wired version that resulted in a massive shortage of copper and countless accidents.
When the Sunpass first came out, we saw no need to get one. We rarely used toll roads and traveled to Orlando sparingly. However, when you have a screaming baby and you arrive at a jam-packed toll plaza, it looks like the best thing since sliced pumpkin bread.
We bought it in the morning to use immediately, but it required online activation and several hours to process. Thanks to Panera’s free Wi-Fi and empty parking lot, we activated it. By the evening, we were cruising through toll plazas like VIPs (Very Impatient Parents).
If you travel toll roads with any frequency, we highly recommend getting a wireless toll-paying thingy like the Sunpass, especially if you have young children. It’ll save time and the tolls may even be cheaper when you use one. Saving money is cool, saving sanity even cooler.
Does your state or city have an automatic system for paying tolls? If so, are you using it?
(photo: southeastroads.com)
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frequent trips to Orlando and Gainesville made Sunpass an early necessity. The turnpike is too long and boring not to take every opportunity to speed up the trip! Now we feel cool because ours is a “vintage” big, clunky Sunpass. ooh, and down here, they have started putting in boothless toll plazas, where you just fly right under these overhead sensors without slowing down. Waaaay fun.
I don’t hit the turnpike very often down here, and it’s never that busy when I do, so the 30 cents comes out of my pocket at little easier. But, if I recall correctly, it costs about $6 to get to Oklahoma City (which is a mere 90 miles away). And the roads still suck.
Maybe someday I’ll acquire the coveted “Pike Pass,” but my daily commute and usual outings are usually just as simply done by using “the grid” in Tulsa. The streets are very simply set up.
What they need is a national toll pass! Seriously. That would save people a lot of panic attacks.
I second Amy’s Comments. Vintage sunpasses are way cool. I think I will have shirts made…
Sweet, I’ll have to look up pictures of the old Sunpass. Did it like shoot the quarters out your window?
Rachel – $6 for 90 miles?? I guess the Turnpike can get that expensive in South Florida. And that road is junk, too, the last I remember.