Online Toll Payment Guide: How to Pay Missed Tolls

It's not the end of the world if you don't have money to pay a toll when you reach the booth. The toll booth operator takes your name and information about your vehicle and gives you a bill that looks like a cash register receipt. If you want to pay the toll online, visit the website of the authority that owns or operates the toll road. Although toll road authorities vary in how and when they accept online payments, typically, you have a short time frame in which to pay. For example, Illinois Tollway gives you seven days to pay a missed toll online, while the Golden Gate Bridge gives you 48 hours.

Warning

Generally speaking, if you miss the window to pay your toll online -- referred to by some authorities as the grace period -- the toll will be considered a violation and you'll incur additional penalties.

Information Needed to Pay the Toll Online

You'll need to enter some combination of the following information in the toll road authority's online payment system, which includes, but is not limited to:

• The toll booth "receipt" transaction number
  
• The name on the receipt, presumably yours
  
• The name of the vehicle's registered owner, which may or may not be you
  
• The license plate number and state
  
• The vehicle identification number
• The date of the missed toll
• The amount due
  

Typically, all major credit cards can be used to pay missed tolls online.