Criteria used for paying toll or driving alternate route

At $4 a gallon, stop and go traffic quickly becomes more expensive than toll roads, not to mention it's usually more miles to go around the toll as well. I look at profit at the end of the day, that is all that matters, within reason.

 

You would need to pay for a lot of fuel to pay the toll across some roads, such as the PA turnpike. You may have a few traffic lights on some routes that go around tolls, but often it is not that much of an issue. In some cases, it might make sense, economically. But, when you figure in all the extra taxes in addition to the tolls, there may not be that much difference.

 

I usually just figure $1/mile for out of route miles as a rough rule of thumb. So if a toll is $35 and it's 40 miles out of route to avoid it I pay the toll. Sometimes HOS or appointment times dictate paying the toll as well.

 

There are no additional taxes. You're going to pay fuel tax either way on those miles. Most ways around toll roads aren't shorter either. Now I don't like tolls myself, but I'm not going to pay more to not run them, plus the additional maintenance costs, fatigue, HOS, etc.
I've run around tolls and I've paid them. Most are a break even situation without monetizing increased maintenance.

 

OH, IN and across NY it pays to dodge if you have an extra time. The same with OK and KS. Chicago/Cleveland is only a 6 mile difference taking 30/2. US20 has a lot of red lights and I hate with a passion, lol. It use to piss me off being stuck behind some farmer. To make matters work you look over at the trucks flying down the turnpike.

 

That is why I take the toll road for IN. & definitely hate every bit of it. But too much risk on ill timed lights, none of them seem synched up there. So you get to stop for ALL of them. But then again the cash toll for 80 through IN is in the $33 range now.

 

And sometimes that 50 bucks just ain,t worth the headache to go around plus no scales on ok/ks or il toll roads and if you run at night they cut the rates on the il tolls.....,

 

well stated

 

All the above plus road condition - is the toll road bumpy or is the go-around bumpy?

 

I love taking the toll road in OH, travel plazas that you can usually find a parking spot is worth it enough to use that toll road. My company is anti toll but I have run their way on US highways across OH and IN, and I have done it my way using the toll road. Money I spend on the tolls seems to be made up in the time I save on my log book