Ever wonder if the toll charges you get billed for are accurate? A North Texas man did, so he tried an experiment.
Brad Ferguson noticed a toll road sign with a charge that seemed high, so he snapped a picture of it with his cell phone. He later found out he was charged more than the amount on the sign, but the people who run the toll road say there's a good reason for that.
Brad Ferguson said he commutes 45 miles to and from work each day, so he often takes toll roads to shorten his drive. One day, while driving home on the 183 Express lane, he saw the toll was $5.40.
"I hadn't seen it that high, so I thought, 'You know what? Let me take a picture so that I can actually compare it to my bill just to see if it is higher or if it's the same,'" he said. "It was definitely not the same."
When Ferguson received a bill, it showed a charge of $7.57.
We reached out to the North Tarrant Express and a spokesman told us there's a simple reason Ferguson was charged more: He doesn't have a toll tag. The spokesman also said the toll signs say "higher rates for no tag."
"Rates are higher if the driver has no toll tag of any kind," the spokesman continued. "ZipCash customers pay approximately 50 percent more than customers with a TollTag or TXtag."
Ferguson said that makes it hard to know exactly what you should be charged if you don't have a TollTag.
"This should be an eye-opener for what they're actually charging you for," he said.
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So how can you find out if you're being billed correctly? North Tarrant Express officials stated:
"Since a ZipCash customer can be charged at least 50 percent more, they would need to contact NTTA to find out how much of their charge was for the toll and how much was applied for the administrative/ZipCash rate. If they are using LBJ or NTE TEXpress lanes, they can also use the check past rates function on the websites… ntetexpress.com or lbjtexpress.com."
The TEXpress website states that ZipCash customers pay about 50 to 90 percent higher rates. The North Texas Tollway Authority does have an ombudsman program for people who have an issue with their bill.
We have information about that and other toll road rates here.
