Eighty-one percent of daily trips taken on the toll roads are paid electronically through the FasTrak transponder system, according to the TCA, and 16 percent are cash transactions.
As a result, the TCA announced new payment options through its transponder-free ExpressAccounts system. Customers are encouraged to sign up for ExpressAccounts and choose prepaid, daily charge, or invoiced payments.
Prepaid customers will have their charges deducted from their established account. Charged customers will have their credit cards charged at the end of each day a trip is taken on any of the toll roads. Invoiced customers will receive a bill at the end of the month.
TCA also announced a payment option to be offered beginning February 1 for infrequent toll road drivers and visitors. "One-Time-Toll" allows out-of-town guests and tourists to use The Toll Roads without establishing an ExpressAccounts or a FasTrak account. These customers may use The Toll Roads at their convenience and pay their tolls within 48 hours, either by paying online at thetollroads.com or by downloading The Toll Roads One-Time-Toll mobile app and paying from a mobile device.
The ExpressAccounts toll is on average 20 percent higher than tolls paid by FasTrak customers, according to the TCA. ExpressAccounts can only be used on the toll roads, not statewide, as the FasTrak can.
The new cashless system will save TCA more than $13 million over five years, according to officials.
The Orange County TCA toll roads include the 73, 133, 241 and 261. A quarter-million people use TCA's toll roads daily, and annual revenue totals $270 million, according to the TCA.
