Ohio Turnpike height rule leads to higher tolls

[Pilot-Matt]

Ohio Turnpike height rule leads to higher tolls for passenger vehicles with objects on roof




Strap a bike to the top of the car or luggage to the minivan roof, and you will pay more to travel on the Ohio Turnpike.

That's because the Turnpike Commission has a new height classification, which shifts passenger vehicles measuring 7 feet 6 inches tall or higher into a toll category meant for heavier two-axle commercial trucks.

So instead of paying the standard cash toll rate of $15 for a passenger vehicle to cross the state, the driver of a vehicle that falls into the new classification is charged $25, the same fee for large trucks.

The height designation was added when new toll rates, based on the number of axles instead of a vehicle's weight, went into effect Oct. 1.

The new system doesn't sit well with bicycle enthusiasts like Chris Huck of Navarre in Stark County, who found out about the change after driving the turnpike to Michigan with his wife and brother-in-law in late October, with three mountain bikes strapped to the top of his station wagon.

Huck recalls that after he exited near Toledo, the toll collector said he owed $12 instead of the $7.25 he was expecting to pay.

"We were really surprised and asked why and she said it was because we had bikes on the roof," he said. "I said, 'What difference does that make?' We'd made the trip many times before. She said we were in a different classification."

Huck said the added weight of the bikes can't compare with the weight of a fully loaded two-axle truck.

"It is sort of like a cop-out to use that blanket assumption for everyone," he said.

Ohio appears to have the only toll road in the country where motorists pay more if something is attached to the top of their vehicle or secured in a pickup truck bed.

Drivers with E-ZPass whose vehicles fall within the new height classification will also pay a higher toll, though the fee is less than the cash toll. E-ZPass tolls are electronically deducted from a motorist's account via a transponder mounted on the windshield.

At the time the turnpike installed the E-ZPass system, a laser scanner was included to measure a vehicle's height as it passes under a gantry and before it enters the toll lane at the turnpike's entrance.

If the laser, set at 7 feet 6 inches, hits a kayak, an extension ladder, a luggage rack or some other rooftop object, the vehicle's designation then shifts from Class 1 to Class 2, the higher toll classification. A corresponding ticket from the machine or the E-ZPass transponder is registered in the new class.

Turnpike Executive Director George Distel said Tuesday that he is trying to remedy the situation.

"Typically height is an indicator to a larger, heavier type of vehicle, and obviously we realize it is not absolute," Distel said. "We are working with specialists that developed this equipment to determine if there is a better way we can determine the actual height of the vehicle versus the height we are getting a read on."

He said vehicles with objects on roofs make up only a small percentage of turnpike traffic, but people have complained about paying a higher toll.

"We have provided some flexibility to our toll collectors, and they have the ability to override a Class 2," he said. Those with E-ZPass have to call customer service, he said.

The New York State Thruway also has a high and low classification based on a height of 7 feet 6 inches.

Unlike in Ohio, in New York, nonpermanent rooftop objects like luggage and bikes are not considered when determining a vehicle's classification, said spokeswoman Betsy Graham. Instead, the classification is determined by the toll worker who gives drivers a ticket when they enter the thruway, she said. Those with E-ZPass are scanned simply as a passenger vehicle, and so no additional fee is imposed.

"Passenger vehicles put less stress on the highways, and it would be unfair for us to classify and charge them at a commercial rate due to a bike rack," she said.

Huck, the Navarre bicyclist, said he plans to avoid the Ohio Turnpike and take alternative routes until the classifications are adjusted.

"It's worth taking more time than spending the money," he concluded.

[rocky]

I've travelled the NY thruway many times and never noticed any sign about height related charged.

Yikes!

[Pilot-Matt]

I gotta measure the Pilot with my Sears cargo box ontop. E-ZPass is still relatively new to Ohio. Does NY give a discount on tolls for E-ZPass users the way Ohio does?

[whizmo]

WA state ferries have a similar screwed-up system for years. Put the bike in the top of the car rather than in the back and suddenly you're in a new, much-more-expensive, truck classification.

- Mark

[krygny]

That's what's called a "Were-the-Government-And-We-Can-Do-Whatever-The-#*%*-We-Want" tax.

[Pilot-Matt]

Good News Ohio Turnpike travelers!

The added fee has been repealed by the Ohio Turnpike Commission.