# Cuota Pass



## GnJ.in.MX (Mar 26, 2009)

Greetings Everyone.

We are driving back to Canada soon via Mexico 15D up thru Nogales. There are many, many toll booths there as some of you who have made that drive will know.

My question is: Is there such a thing as a pass that you would pay for up front that would get you through the cuotas without having to pull out pesos all the time? 

Thanks.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

Yes, that would be the lane where the rising gate is before the toll booth, I believe a sticker or remote receiver reads you ID and you are billed monthly, probably used by buses,trucking Co. and nationals..


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## GnJ.in.MX (Mar 26, 2009)

chicois8 said:


> Yes, that would be the lane where the rising gate is before the toll booth, I believe a sticker or remote receiver reads you ID and you are billed monthly, probably used by buses,trucking Co. and nationals..


So nothing then. OK thanks. Thought I'd take a shot. It sure would be a heckuva lot more convenient to get a pass. Oh well.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

GnJ.in.MX said:


> So nothing then. OK thanks. Thought I'd take a shot. It sure would be a heckuva lot more convenient to get a pass. Oh well.


Look at RollyBrook's page on the autopistas, Toll Roads.

According to him you can buy an IAVE card in any of the toll booths, then use it.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

Yes, as TG writes, you can buy a prepaid IAVE card in many places as I could at my Mexican bank branch if I wished to use the card instead of cash. I don´t believe the remote system is practical for you for a one-time trip and, besides, paying at the toll booth beats the hell out of paying monthly by mail unless you are running a commercial establishment constantly incurring highway toll charges.

As we often travel the cuotas between Jalisco and Chiapas, a distance of some 1,500 kilometers each way and pay numerous tolls in each direction, we have found the payment of cash for tolls to be only a minor inconvenience and a good way to dispose of those $500 Peso notes acquired at ATM machines. One of us is the driver and the other the banker always at the ready with the required toll upon approaching a toll booth. Not only is that an efficent way to pay tolls but the driver´s wallet or purse is nearly empty of cash when required to open it to, say, show a driver´s license or other identification. One does not wish to have a wallet stuffed and bulging with the pesos necessary to pay fpr gasoline , meals, lodging and tolls on long journeys in case some crooked cop is seeking the "little bite" and seizes the random opportunity to partake a wee bit upon observing a foreigner´s obvious good fortune.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

Another on the cash-for-tolls- gasoline-lodging and meals that it would be good to bear in mind:

* When I wrote in the above post that the driver´s wallet or purse is best left "nearly empty!, I meant that "nearly" idea. These crooked cops one may rarely meet along the way in any lengthy road trip may be jerks but they are too experienced at patrolling the highways to think you have set off on a significant journey with no cash so keep in mind (1) that some cash in one´s wallet or purse is essential - just an amount you can afford to lose with the rest hidden away - and (2) if a sleazeball cop inquires as to where you are coming from and where you are going, he has no way of ascertaining whether or not you are telling the truth so, whereever you may be, indicate a relatively short journey from one podunk town to another hole-in-the-Wall at least 100 kilometers up the road. It helps hugely to have Mexican plates on your car. We bought a Mexican plated car in 2004 and have not been hassled since. When we had a California plated Chrysler for about three year prior to that, we were like rotting meat in a vulture den every time we drove though Mexico City.

That reminds me of a good story:

Back before they opened the Arco Norte freeway bypass around Mexico City, when driving between Lake Chapala and the Chiapas Highlands, we simply had to drive through the heart of Mexico City between Santa Fe on the west and Ixtapaluca on the east and that was always quite a long and unpredictable journey so one day back around 2003, we were driving that big ole Chrysler with the California plates through the city near the airport when we were pulled over by two thuggish Mexico City cops with guns and the following conversation ensued:
COPS: Do you realize that you are driving through the city with license plates with a last number that is not allowed on this day of the week? We are going to have to impound your car and it´s going to cost you at least $10,000 Pesos in fines plus impondment and storage fees while you plead your case in court unless, of course, we settle this matter here on the spot. 
WIFE: But, officer, today is a national holiday and the "Hoy No Circula" restrictions do not apply.
COPS: Well, that´s true but that does not change the fact that you changed lanes on the expressway back there witout giving a signal and that will cost you $6,000 Pesos unless you pay us $4,000 Pesos now to settle the matter.
WIFE: Bullsh*t,
COPS: Well, just what will you pay us? 
WIFE: Well, officer, when you pulled us over we were lost and looking for the entrance to the freeway to Querétaro and were prepared to find a taxi to lead us to that entrance for, say, a fee of $200 Pesos. If you would be so kind as to help us find that freeway entrance, we would be pleased to pay you $200 Pesos as we are hopelessly lost.
COPS: That´s a deal.

So, off we go following the cop car with emergency lights flashing up to the entrance to the freeway to Queretaro with the cars in front of us getting the hell out of the way so the route was, shall we say, expedited and, since it was getting dark and we needed to get back to Lake Chapala, one of the best $200 Pesos investments we ever made.


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