Selection/Deselections of Toll Roads

You can call-up the route and see all of the turns and that sort of thing, but you cannot allow or disallow each one. You have the option of avoiding toll roads but it is an all or nothing proposition.

Making that comment here http://www8.garmin.com/contactUs/ideas/

what garmin do you have? Some will let you detour by road, but you'll need to know in advance which one is a toll road or not. So a semi-workaround

Driving through the USA I avoid toll roads like the plague and my Garmin is set to avoid them. A few years ago after crossing the border at Laredo into Mexico I could not figure out why the GPS kept wanting me to get of at the next exit etc. That is until I remembered to allow toll roads in Mexico.

It's either black or white, there is no gray.

my google maps to avoid tolls while in Canada, and forgetting about that, it gave some wacky results trying to get from NJ to NY....

I did make the suggestion to Garmin.

Just thought I would post here to see reactions. As I said above, it would be a programming effort, but not a large one. And Garmin has to compete with cell phone and vehicle units. This would be an option that they don't have.

Just a thought if there aren't too many... If there are certain tolls you want to avoid, you could go into the settings for Custom Avoidances and add the start and stop points for the specific roads or bridges (remember to do in both directions if applicable). You could then leave toll roads enabled, but the routing will avoid these specific roads you have flagged.

Yes CA is one way. I was just looking for a no-brainer, straight forward way to deal with tolls. I like to set the gps and go, but not have to go through a number of other steps.

My idea could be incorporated in all the touch screen units I would think. Just hop in the car, plug in the route, select the toll options, and let the good times roll.

Just thinking out loud ...

I really don't find it a hardship to select or deselect the toll roads depending on which country I am driving in. In my opinion if you want to avoid toll roads it would be the complete country and not just one segment of it.
Except the one time when I forgot to deselect to avoid toll roads in Mexico.

Sure it's not a hardship to deselect tolls, especially when going cross-country. However here in the N. VA area the new 'thing' is toll roads where the fee is determined by traffic density. We have several and they are putting more in. Our neighboring state, Maryland, is now considering them. As other metropolitan areas see the revenue generated from these public/private roads, they will consider them.

It would be best if all tolls were eliminated and the fees paid by taxes. It is my understanding that there are no toll roads in Sweden.

Where I live we have a toll road which was built using taxpayers money and then sold to some Spanish conglomerate.

This road is usually free of traffic since it is very expensive to use. They apparently have different charges, whether in or out of rush hour times. It is about 10 miles north, for myself too far out of my way, and starts well east of the city going to another city about 40 miles to the west. Yes,you will make much better time using it at a hefty distance charge. Even though it is a very limited access road it has the same speed limit (60Mph) as other limited access roads, not like a toll road in Texas bypassing Austin and partially San Antonio (85Mph).

Personally the only toll roads in the USA I will use are the Kansas Turnpikes. They have a very reasonable low charge.

There are a few toll bridges on the West coast (Vancouver BC) but no toll roads I am aware of from the Pacific until you get to Ontario. Could be wrong..

To know what electronic toll collection services are accepted on toll roads (EZPass, SunPass etc.) and if they have a cash option. Every year, more and more go cashless. This could result in high toll rates and / or fines if you don't subscribe to the appropriate electronic collection service.

I realize a database such as this would be difficult to compile and a nightmare to maintain.

When planning a cross country trip, I usually build it in Basecamp and research any toll roads involved. I can then adjust the route to avoid any that could be a problem.