bcla
On our rugged Eastern foothills.....
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2012
I could purchase the FasTrak posted above from Costco, but with shipping it would be $50 and I would have to register it to the rental car once we pick it up. $50 may be a bargain though if the rental car agency will charge us by day since it is a 9 day rental (returning the car to LAS) with only using it for two Bay Bridge Crossings and potentially one Golden Gate.
Thanks for coming back and not being scared off by a barrage of too much information.
I found out how much the rental car agencies charge for Golden Gate Bridge access. Some use "PlatePASS" while others use "Toll PASS" - both of which use the license plate number. They have a way to register online for personal vehicles where the toll is paid ahead of time; that's not the way the rental car agencies do it. However, the fees seem to be anywhere from $2.95 to $9.95 a day and up to $14.75 to $39.95 per week/month. That's on top of having to make a payment in advance.
http://goldengate.org/tolls/rentaltollprograms.php
If you're a Costco member, then I'd suggest maybe just buying a transponder at the closest one. We just dropped off a visitor at OAK yesterday, and then went straight to the closest Costco to get gas. It's only 9 minutes from the rental car center to the Costco in San Leandro. You could also get other supplies at Costco. I haven't purchased one at Costco, but it's one of the those big cardboard placards that you take to the cashier, and then you show your receipt at the pickup "cage". I think the $30 toll value should probably be enough, especially if it's just a $2.50 carpool toll and a $6 Golden Gate Bridge electronic toll.
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Oak...ef9aae12063113d!2m2!1d-122.181865!2d37.720863
If you buy one at Costco, you don't have to register it immediately with your rental, but it doesn't work you might need to spend time on the phone explaining it.
Apparently you can opt out of your rental car agency's Golden Gate Bridge tolling if you make an online payment ($7) within 48 hours. During carpool hours it's $4 for carpools. However, I understand that if you don't make the payment in time, the fees from the rental car agencies are punitive if you've opted out.
This is where you can set up a "license plate" account to pay for it yourself:
https://www.bayareafastrak.org/en/signup/licenseprep.shtml