For Whom the EU Tolls: Germany Keen on Gouging Any and All Drivers

What if you had to pay a toll to drive anywhere? It’s entirely possible that such a proposal would spark a backlash in the road-hungry United States, but the idea hasn’t won over everyone in eco-conscious Europe, either.

In addition to existing steep fuel taxes, Germany wants to see a blanket road toll go into effect across the continent.

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New York Becomes First U.S. City to Introduce Congestion Pricing

It was a bit of a struggle, but the New York State Legislature and Governor Andrew Cuomo have signed on a (decidedly progressive) $175 billion state budget. While the deal has a number of noteworthy inclusions, spurred by the newly elected Democratic majority in the State Legislature, the one we’re most concerned with involves charging motorists for the privilege of driving on streets of lower Manhattan.

Along with interesting initiatives to ban plastic bags and impose new taxes on high-end homes, New York has decided to become the first American city to introduce congestion pricing.

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Audi Launching Vehicle-integrated Toll Technology in North America

Depending on where you live, toll roads might be a significant part of your driving life. There are a few ways to handle these moderate annoyances. You can carefully plot your course to avoid them, adding time to the journey and eventually trapping yourself in a situation where you’re scrambling to find enough change under your seat to appease I-95. However, a better solution would probably be to have some cash on hand, or maybe pick up one of those ugly boxes used for electronic toll collection.

E-ZPass, QuickPass, SunPas FasTrak, TxTag, and every other electronic collection measure require that you adhere a card or unsightly hunk of plastic to your vehicle’s windshield. While they don’t take up a lot of space, their placement can sometimes impede visibility and the cheap white plastic is bit of an eyesore — especially in a well-appointed interior.

Audi says it’s through with them and plans to launch an automated toll payment technology, integrated in the car’s rear-view mirror, for North American models. It might be one of the most mundane problems currently facing motorists, but somebody had to solve it.

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Highway Robbery - Why Are NYC Tolls So Expensive?

There’s not a doubt in my mind that if Grosse Pointe, Michigan, which abuts the city limits of Detroit, put up toll booths on Jefferson Ave. charging drivers money to enter the city, there’d be accusations of discriminating against the less affluent, mostly black residents of the city of Detroit. New York City, though, gets away with charging exorbitant tolls to enter Manhattan and some of the boroughs. If you are driving a privately owned automobile or truck, or if you’re a passenger on a privately owned bus or taxicab, you will be paying or subsidizing a toll if you want to enter the ‘center of the universe’.

Of course, government owned transportation services are exempt from such tolls, but if you’re going travel into the city on your own schedule, you will have to pay for what, I guess, is a privilege.

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Foreigners May Pay Toll to Storm the Autobahn
The Bell Tolls Over Seattle, but Not for Most Commuters

It would appear as though the price of admission to traverse the longest floating bridge in the world on a daily basis has had quite the impact on commuting patterns in Seattle. A study to be issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation this week – barring another tragicomic display by the powers that be, of course – has uncovered that use of the Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge – Evergreen Point (colloquially known as the 520 floating bridge) has gone down by half since tolling began near the end of 2011.

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Lawsuit Challenges Rental Car, Photo Ticket Collaboration

A federal lawsuit seeks damages against a rental car company for allowing the photo enforcement firm American Traffic Solutions (ATS) to place charges on the credit cars of customers without their consent. North Carolina resident Dwight Simonson filed the case in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey earlier this year and hopes it will be certified as a class action. Simonson had rented a Hertz automobile in Orlando, Florida on June 23, 2009 and was outraged to find himself being billed $10.75 by ATS for a 75 cent toll. Since 2005, the New Jersey-based Hertz Corporation has worked with ATS through a program known as PlatePass through which renters can use toll roads with a built-in payment system. Frequent travelers have expressed outrage over the automatic billing for various forms of traffic fines they consider excessive. Simonson argues that the program is intended to defraud renters.

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  • 3-On-The-Tree I’m sure they are good vehicles but you can’t base that on who is buying them. Land Rovers, Bentley’ are bought by Robin Leaches’s “The Rich and Famous” but they have terrible reliability.
  • SCE to AUX The fix sounds like a bandaid. Kia's not going to address the defective shaft assemblies because it's hard and expensive - not cool.
  • Analoggrotto I am sick and tired of every little Hyundai Kia Genesis flaw being blown out of proportion. Why doesn't TTAC talk about the Tundra iForce Max problems, Toyota V35A engine problems or the Lexus 500H Hybrid problems? Here's why: education. Most of America is illiterate, as are the people who bash Hyundai Kia Genesis. Surveys conducted by credible sources have observed a high concentration of Hyundai Kia Genesis models at elite ivy league universities, you know those places where students earn degrees which earn more than $100K per year? Get with the program TTAC.
  • Analoggrotto NoooooooO!
  • Ted “the model is going to be almost 4 inches longer and 2 inches wider than its predecessor”Size matters. In this case there is 6” too much.