# On tolls



## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

We recently took a 1,200 kilometer road trip to Puerto Vallarta. The road from Orizaba toward Puebla is probably one of the most beautiful stretches of highway I have ever driven, twisty mountain roads that offer sweeping views of valleys and huge mountains, until you reach a sign that warns "Zona de Niebla" or "Fog zone." Actually they are clouds and visibility is reduced to 20 feet slowing you down to 40KPH.

Once out of this just as you enter Puebla you take the "Arco Norte". This highway is excellent as is 15D that it leads to. The path is clearly marked to Guadalajara then Puerto Vallarta and you can literally hang the speedometer on 140 KPH as the highway is great all of the way, if you don't fear radar as I've never seen so many radar cops in my life in Mexico.

But you pay a price for this great road, the tolls are so frequent and high that they are almost unbelievable averaging 145-180 pesos. Also I ran into something completely new to me. At one toll booth there was no attendant, you pull forward and push a button for your ticket. A lot of kilometers later we came to yet another toll and there was a huge sign listing all of the different vehicles and their origination point.

We pulled forward and they asked for the ticket that we had received and luckily I hadn't thrown it out of the window as a lot of people do. The toll there was 420 pesos and it was the same returning, it went by the kilometers traveled as you can't get off of this stretch without paying a toll. I had never seen a 420 peso toll but had payed so many 180 peso toll on this trip that it wasn't really surprising after driving so far without one. I imagine that being as we got this ticket at this particular destination that the amount was possibly the max but I have never seen this before, but it is also highly possible that the amount could have been more as I haven't looked a a map to see if we got on at the beginning of the Arco Norte or not, it could have very well been a lot more.

The moral of this story is keep the tickets, don't roll them up and throw them out of the window.

The total one way was 1,832 pesos from Orizaba to Puerto Vallarta, that's $95.05 one way.


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## lagoloo (Apr 12, 2011)

Uh, why would anyone want to throw things out the window in the first place?

Sounds like under a hundred US bucks is a cheap price to pay for a enjoying a beautiful trip on a good highway. You've given us all fair warning to have a potfull of pesos ready before starting out, though. That's good. All the toll roads get their due around here; last trip from the Guadalajara area to the closest beach at Manzanillo was around $55 US bucks, one way. Probably more now.


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## lat19n (Aug 19, 2017)

lagoloo said:


> Uh, why would anyone want to throw things out the window in the first place?
> 
> Sounds like under a hundred US bucks is a cheap price to pay for a enjoying a beautiful trip on a good highway. You've given us all fair warning to have a potfull of pesos ready before starting out, though. That's good. All the toll roads get their due around here; last trip from the Guadalajara area to the closest beach at Manzanillo was around $55 US bucks, one way. Probably more now.


I have one of these stuck to my windshield. It is tied to my Mexican credit card and automatically draws more funds as needed on a trip.

https://www.idmexico.com.mx/idmexico/


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

I'm aware of the auto pay option but choose just to pay as keeping the receipts and adding them up let's us know exactly what to expect on the way home or when we return there. We also saw a policeman waving something at the auto reader overhead when one car's autopass didn't work.


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

They were using that take-a-ticket/pay-when-you-exit system on the Pennsylvania Turnpike back in the 70's, and are probably using it today, and I'm sure they use it elsewhere, so I'm surprised you never encountered that system before.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

lat19n said:


> I have one of these stuck to my windshield. It is tied to my Mexican credit card and automatically draws more funds as needed on a trip.
> 
> https://www.idmexico.com.mx/idmexico/


Many thanks for this link. I have been trying to find one of those for months. I tried three places that someone said sold them without success. No one had them. That web site lists a bunch more that I can try. If you buy it online, how do they get it to you?


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## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

lagoloo said:


> All the toll roads get their due around here; last trip from the Guadalajara area to the closest beach at Manzanillo was around $55 US bucks, one way. Probably more now.


Ouch. Last summer I went the autopista from GDL to Manzanillo, passing through Cd. Colima and it was 4 tolls totalling about 400 pesos. Were you driving something larger than a car/pick-up or perhaps coming in from the other side of Guadalajara?


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

There are signs at the Arco Norte to keep the ticket ..it has has been the system ever since they opened that route, it is a great system you only pay when you get out..
By the way throwing the ticket away is a dumb idea anywhere on the cuotas: if you have an accident because of something due to poor maintenance, like a piece of metal on the road like we had north of Minatitlan, you call the green Angels and CAPUFE insurrance adjuster comes and in order to claimthe damage , you have to show the receipt for the toll.. No receipt no insurrance no money from CAPUFE.
Also I agree the road in the mountain is pretty but when yo have done it once or twice then it is time to hit the cuota road and the road between Orizaba and Puebla is very good and spectacular when there are no accident on the mountain.. which happens quite often ..
We love the names of the towns going up it gives you the idea that the Spaniards or the people who first did that road did not enjoy that road..After Cd Mendoza comes la Maltrata then near the top Esperanza..

The tolls on Arco Norte are worth every penny.. We take them several times a year and before the Arco Norte we used to go Via Toluca, Santa Fe, cross Mexico city to Puebla..The Arco Norte saved us time and mordida stops.. and we do not have to worry which day we leave.. no restriction on fay you can drive it..


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## lat19n (Aug 19, 2017)

TundraGreen said:


> Many thanks for this link. I have been trying to find one of those for months. I tried three places that someone said sold them without success. No one had them. That web site lists a bunch more that I can try. If you buy it online, how do they get it to you?


I picked mine up at a Farmacia Ahorra (I think). Cost something like 100 pesos. There was something less than intuitive in getting it all setup online, but they were very helpful . If you run into trouble let me know and I'll see if I can track down the email chain. We have been on roads where they simply will not accept cash - it is one of these devices or you don't travel on that highway.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

lat19n said:


> I picked mine up at a Farmacia Ahorra (I think). Cost something like 100 pesos. There was something less than intuitive in getting it all setup online, but they were very helpful . If you run into trouble let me know and I'll see if I can track down the email chain. We have been on roads where they simply will not accept cash - it is one of these devices or you don't travel on that highway.


It would make travel much easier for me. I ride a motorcycle and paying tolls requires stopping, putting the bike in neutral to free up both hands, taking off my gloves, unzipping a pocket, digging out my wallet, paying, then putting the wallet away, zipping the pocket up, and putting the gloves back on before riding off. Meanwhile people behind me are waiting.

Since it is only 100 pesos, I think I will go ahead and order one online and see if they can get it to me. Maybe it will already be connected to my bank card that way.

Incidentally, the motorcycle tolls are exactly half the auto tolls. It occurs to me that the transponder may not recognize that so I guess this needs more investigation.


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## lat19n (Aug 19, 2017)

TundraGreen said:


> It would make travel much easier for me. I ride a motorcycle and paying tolls requires stopping, putting the bike in neutral to free up both hands, taking off my gloves, unzipping a pocket, digging out my wallet, paying, then putting the wallet away, zipping the pocket up, and putting the gloves back on before riding off. Meanwhile people behind me are waiting.
> 
> Since it is only 100 pesos, I think I will go ahead and order one online and see if they can get it to me. Maybe it will already be connected to my bank card that way.
> 
> Incidentally, the motorcycle tolls are exactly half the auto tolls. It occurs to me that the transponder may not recognize that so I guess this needs more investigation.


You still need to have some cash on you because not all the readers work. Also on one trip we paid cash even though we had the device on the windshield. We may have paid double


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## 4Lionsnbaja (Nov 12, 2017)

Ensenada-Tijuana we have 3 toll booths on the scenic route, 33 pesos each.
Its about 100kms, so it comes out to 1 peso per KM.


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

eastwind said:


> They were using that take-a-ticket/pay-when-you-exit system on the Pennsylvania Turnpike back in the 70's, and are probably using it today, and I'm sure they use it elsewhere, so I'm surprised you never encountered that system before.


I assume you were talking to me as this was like the 3rd post, but as you see, I had already said..



Zorro2017 said:


> I'm aware of the auto pay option but choose just to pay as keeping the receipts and adding them up let's us know exactly what to expect on the way home or when we return there. We also saw a policeman waving something at the auto reader overhead when one car's autopass didn't work.


We have encountered the autopass ever since I have been here as buses don't stop and roll down the window, the company has an account. From what I have read you can purchase these things from Bancomer as well as online. There are prepaid ones and ones that are tied to your account, according to this Chapala web board..

"it's just a transmitter that sends your account info to the square receiver at the tollbooth"

Mexican Cuota Toll Tag - Mexico General - Chapala.com Webboard

So I say a big "No thank you." to anything being remotely read by a radio frequency and tied to my credit card, but some do as they "don't want to worry about running out of pre pay". If we got one it would definitely be a pre paid one but I'm old school and just not in that much of a hurry. I understand the motorcycle inconvenience.

People are also selling these things at the toll booths now.

Also, I never said we throw the receipts out of the window, I said, "Some people do," my wife made me aware of the coverage that comes with the paying of the toll.


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

Be advised on this entire highway of Arco Norte and 15D that leads all of the way to the west coast there is absolutely nothing other than Oxxo's and Pemex stations and a few (very few) restaurants. We found ladies cooking delicious tacos of beef and chorizo outside of an Oxxo.

*You will see no hotels on the highway so you need to plan ahead*. It was getting dark when we finally decided to explore as there are not even any cities on the road, you must take the exits to see them. We stopped in Zamora and found the Hotel Jerico which was excellent, large with a pool and a good breakfast buffet included. They are dog friendly or were to our small Yorkie. It was clean and had good wifi but they were working on the road all night and even way back in the rear we could still hear a backup alarm on a piece of heavy equipment but we were so tired we slept well anyway.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

There are no hotels or much of anything else but Tula is half way between Atlacomulco and San Martin Texmalucan (Puebla) and there are hotels in Tula so it is not as deserted as you make it appear.. Before the Arco Norte opened we took the libre following the same route and there are hotels in the little town you bypass as well but Tula is the largest city.. lousy air but great food at the market there. We stayed there a couple of time in a resort that is very nice and thre is also a nice hotel going into town on the right handside but you have to follow the signs as it is not obvious from that road.. Also a business hotel on the right as you get into the main drag thre .

There are hotels in Atlacomulco as well but the place is really high and cold. after that you have hotels at just about every exit but you have to exit.. We satyed in Maravatio and as you bypass the Monarch sanctuary thre are lots of towns and villages with hotels. Tlapuhajua in Michoacan is not far from the autopista, it is a pueblo magico and it has lots of hotels as well, Zamora is a long way away and there ae plenty of hotels before that, including in Morelia..

I find the tolls expensive.. It cost us 3000 pesos( the tolls and the gas 2 tanks) which is more than it cost to go by bus or plane.. We come out even if we are 2 in the car but for one person it is way cheaper to fly or take the bus to many locations.


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

Zorro2017 said:


> I assume you were talking to me as this was like the 3rd post, but as you see, I had already said..
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Zorro, I was referring to this in your OP:

Also I ran into something completely new to me. At one toll booth there was no attendant, you pull forward and push a button for your ticket.

I wasn't talking at all about the autopay radio gadget connected to a credit card, but the system of getting a ticket when you enter a tollway and paying when you exit, with the ticket showing the exit attendant where you got on and how much you owe. The paper ticket system has been in use for years and years. The RF thing is *not* what I was talking about. I'm surprised you never encountered the system where you get a paper ticket when you enter the tollway and pay when you leave, as that system has been around since the 70's at least. I recall hitting it many times on the Pennsylvania Turnpike on the way to 'grandma's house' when I was little, that could have been the 60's, but it was certainly the 70's. I wasn't referring to the radio thing at all, so the fact that you had already posted your 'big no thank you' was something that I had read but was not addressing, because I wasn't talking about that system. I hope this is clear.


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

citlali said:


> There are no hotels or much of anything else but Tula is half way between Atlacomulco and San Martin Texmalucan (Puebla) and there are hotels in Tula so it is not as deserted as you make it appear


You don't go* through* Tula, or Morelia, or Zamora, you go past them, the only large city you go through is Guadalajara. You can see things way off in the distance but *you sure can't see any hotels from the highway was my point*. There are Hotels in all of the above. I never said it was deserted, I said..



Zorro2017 said:


> Be advised on this entire highway of Arco Norte and 15D that leads all of the way to the west coast there is absolutely nothing other than Oxxo's and Pemex stations and a few (very few) restaurants.


When traveling to Texas from the Yucatan or Veracruz you go right through the center of a lot of smaller cities and do see the no tell motels and many others. My point to travelers who have never taken this route is don't expect to see hotels along the highway to choose from, you won't, so look on the internet before you leave. We were pretty tired and my GPS found one so we pulled off of the road to the toll booth to exit. My wife asked the man at the toll booth about hotels and then man said, "Si, uno, chico." She is pretty picky about where we stay so we backed up and bit the bullet all the way to Zamora.


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

eastwind said:


> Zorro, I was referring to this in your OP:
> 
> Also I ran into something completely new to me. At one toll booth there was no attendant, you pull forward and push a button for your ticket.
> 
> I wasn't talking at all about the autopay radio gadget connected to a credit card, but the system of getting a ticket when you enter a tollway and paying when you exit, with the ticket showing the exit attendant where you got on and how much you owe. The paper ticket system has been in use for years and years. The RF thing is *not* what I was talking about. I'm surprised you never encountered the system where you get a paper ticket when you enter the tollway and pay when you leave, as that system has been around since the 70's at least. I recall hitting it many times on the Pennsylvania Turnpike on the way to 'grandma's house' when I was little, that could have been the 60's, but it was certainly the 70's. I wasn't referring to the radio thing at all, so the fact that you had already posted your 'big no thank you' was something that I had read but was not addressing, because I wasn't talking about that system. I hope this is clear.


I understand now, sorry abut the misunderstanding but no, I've never seen it before. I've driven from Texas to Playa Del Carmen and back more times than I can remember, from Playa to Merida and back, from PDC to Orizaba and never seen the paper ticket to pay when leaving.

You can drive all of the way across Texas from Orange to El Paso on Interstate 10 and never encounter a toll unless they recently added one. For as large as it is, toll roads are really rare in Texas.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

I travel from the Yucatan and Chiapas to Guadalajara via the cuotas and you can see some hotels as you go through Puebla but do not see hotels as you go though Orizaba and Cordoba and after that you see no hotel until you get to Villahermosa or Tuxtla and you do not go via any town.. The beauty of these cuotas is that you do not enter the cities so you have to get off the freeway into a town to see hotels.. The great thing is that you do not have to go into Tula or Coatzcoalco or Minamitlan, thank God.. 

If you go along the coast yeas you run into hotels ..

As far as the system from the Arco Norte it is common in France but that is the only one Iwe have encounyered so far in Mexico.. We do not travel north os Guadalajara but have done a lot of travelling by car and buses and I have not seen this system anywhere in Mexico south of Guadaljara..


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

citlali said:


> The beauty of these cuotas is that you do not enter the cities so you have to get off the freeway into a town to see hotels.


That's all I was saying, plan ahead on a hotel as you won't see them on the Arco Norte.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

You do not see them between Villahermosa and Cordoba either.. or between Cordoba and Tuxtla..


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