We will be in the San Francisco Bay Area and will rent a car. I have heard that you cannot stop at some bridges, they just take a photo of the license and send a bill. What do you do when you are in a rental car?
We keep getting emails from Avis to prepay for bridge tolls for like $125. But we will only cross 3 or 4 times.
Posted by
Oregon 🌲
471 posts
Yes, the bridges in the SF Bay Area take photos of your license plate and send the bill to the registration place of the vehicle. You can register the license plate of your rental car for payment to your account. This is for all the bridges, except the Golden Gate Bridge: https://www.bayareafastrak.org/en/ways-to-pay/license-plate-account.shtml. This is for the GGB: https://www.goldengate.org/bridge/tolls-payment/rental-vehicles/ They both allow temporary accounts for rental cars.
Posted by
Bend, OR
1747 posts
The Golden Gate is $10, the Bay Bridge and others in the area are $8 and it allows you to go over and back. $125 is quite a bit to prepay. As suggested, register the rental car license plate on line so the bill comes to you. Last time we were down there it took several weeks to receive the bill for the Bay Bridge followed by one for the Carquinez Bridge.
Posted by
OP
685 posts
Do I have to register the car as suggested? Won’t the rental company agree to just bill me for the bridge crossings?
Posted by
San Diego, California
6750 posts
The rental car companies usually charge an additional service fee. Of course, you can always pay for toll coverage, but it's a daily charge, for every day you have the car.
My experience is for the Golden Gate, and we usually pay online within 24 hours of crossing. Usually there are signs with the website, or you can just google the site. For the GG, you only pay for the south bound crossing. Enjoy the scenery!
Posted by
ATL, USA
660 posts
Ask your rental agency if a toll transponder comes with the car. I just rented a car in Maine and didn't know to ask that question, because there are no tolls where I live. It turned out the car was equipped with a transponder for the "EZ Pass" lanes.
I rented with National. The charge for the transponder was $4.95/day, plus whatever tolls I incurred which will be billed later. Tolls were not mentioned when I made the reservation, so it was not something I could opt out of, but I also wasn't asked to pre-pay. I would not pre-pay $125 for tolls!
If the rental does not include a transponder, I guess I would find out what the fees are for Avis to bill you for the tolls. If it's more if you don't pre-pay - well, at that point I would find another rental agency.
Posted by
Oregon 🌲
471 posts
The rental company will gladly forward the toll bill to you for $25 to $30 per crossing. The bridge tolls are in one direction only. Usually in the direction of into San Francisco. The other direction is free.
Edited to add: I have a transponder, because I used to live in the Bay Area and visit family there. You could order one, for a fee I think. It allows you to use the carpool lanes for free.
Posted by
OP
685 posts
It makes sense to register with fastrak as suggested above. It seems the least expensive way to take care of the tolls. I just didn’t realize that you could register a rental car. I guess when you return the car you unregister it soon after you return the car.
Posted by
10 posts
The toll registration is time-based, so it automatically expires at the date and time you specify. No need to do it manually. The rental-car toll fee is a ripoff (IMHO), since you’re charged the daily fee whether you use a toll bridge (or lane; there are Fastrak lanes all over the Bay Area now) that day or not.
For extra peace of mind, you can register the car ahead of time, once you know its plate number.