Euro toll roads - Information please

thanks for all the replies chaps, superb help and advice:beerjug:

my trips will be blasting across from calais to various rallies in france belgium and holland, for each of these weekends away i'll be leaving on the friday returning on the sunday so getting to the venue needs to be done as quickly as possible, hence enquiring about tolls. no time for quaint villages or scenic routes i'm affraid, sacrilidge i know but it's just a case of head down and hard to the party:beer:
 
It's not a scam at all. The signs tell the truth, that assorted motor vehicles can use the lane, if they chose to.

The same signs, also indicate if it is a credit card (CB or a credit card like symbol) or automated cash bucket (both unmanned) and, obviously, set to the car rate, or car drivers would simply pay a motorbike rate.

Somewhere on the overhead signs there will be a sign with a little man with his hand out. These are the manned booths, often available for use by all and any vehicles, so the queue might be a bit longer at busy times. Again, most of these will always take cash or credit cards, the signs will tell you.

Some countryside peage exits are only fully automatic, so bikes will, inevitably, pay the flat motor vehicle rate. OK, it's a charge...but it won't be life altering. One half litre of beer less in the evening, perhaps. Anyway, you can get several bikes through at once, so it's possible to make a profit of a few euro.

The bigger problem on these, out in the sticks exits, is not the charge but getting the barrier to detect the presence of a motorbike, to even turn the ticket machine on. They are triggered by an induction loop, set in the ground. Even the mighty GS isn't quite metallic enough to set it off, sometimes.

The reason i was suggesting it was a scam was that on some tolls i have used they have a motorcycle sign above a particular lane encouraging you to use it . I agree that it also has a credit card sign but i was expecting the lane to be intelligent and maybe use a camera or weight detection or something to decide you were a bike.
In reality the motorcycle sign should be at the manned booth so you are directed away from the credit card ones. I agree that if you want to use the credit card short que then you will have to accept that you will pay more. I was charged 18 Euro on one section when i followed the sign for bikes. I should have joined the que and paid 9 Euro.

I am always too worried about cameras etc (and honest) to put more than one bike through at a time. :blast
 
.....but i was expecting the lane to be intelligent....
......I should have joined the que and paid 9 Euro.....

Therein lies your problem...and solution.

Queue for 9 euro, no queue for 18....you makes yer choice, and pays yer money (as they sort of say). :beerjug:

The old garlic munchers go to some trouble to keep bikes out of the CB and Telepeage lanes, for exactly the reason you describe.

2peage300br.jpg


You can the CB lanes only and the green (manned) general arrow in this vid:

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And the ever amusing:

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I'm wise to it now and sometimes it is worth paying extra.

Of course you don't always have to join the que at the back :augie

Its also always amusing when your ticket is completely sodden and doesn't work especially if you are at the CC booth. Then you get a que even at the empty cc lane. Then the attendant gets upset and lets you all through for the cost of one bike.:beerjug: Although it does mean getting off and walking to a manned booth.
 
Another useful little tip is to get one of those little change wallets (I use one with a tray formed by the closing flap) which usually look a bit miserly in ordinary shops but you can hand over the whole thing at the booth and let the attendant take what they need. This saves a lot of fumbling with gloves and counting change.

When I've done that the attendant has usually been at pains to show exactly what he was taking from the wallet (the tray thing helps) and they never seem annoyed by it. I suppose it's better than waiting for the gloves to come off, change to be sorted and then picked up from the floor and the gloves to go back on.
 
Another useful little tip is to get one of those little change wallets (I use one with a tray formed by the closing flap) which usually look a bit miserly in ordinary shops but you can hand over the whole thing at the booth and let the attendant take what they need. This saves a lot of fumbling with gloves and counting change.

When I've done that the attendant has usually been at pains to show exactly what he was taking from the wallet (the tray thing helps) and they never seem annoyed by it. I suppose it's better than waiting for the gloves to come off, change to be sorted and then picked up from the floor and the gloves to go back on.
That's a good idea, thank you and thanks also Wapping, yes I found the ever amusing one amusing.
 
Another useful little tip is to get one of those little change wallets (I use one with a tray formed by the closing flap) which usually look a bit miserly in ordinary shops but you can hand over the whole thing at the booth and let the attendant take what they need. This saves a lot of fumbling with gloves and counting change.

When I've done that the attendant has usually been at pains to show exactly what he was taking from the wallet (the tray thing helps) and they never seem annoyed by it. I suppose it's better than waiting for the gloves to come off, change to be sorted and then picked up from the floor and the gloves to go back on.


cracking idea:clap

i'm taking all this advice on board, thanks again for your help chaps (and chapesses):bow
 
Don't stand on the pegs as you approach an automatic booth, as the height sensors will charge you for a van.

One of our party did that and was charged more than the others.
 
Don't stand on the pegs as you approach an automatic booth, as the height sensors will charge you for a van.

One of our party did that and was charged more than the others.

The simple solution is if the exit only has unmanned booths just pull up next to your mate and pop through at the same time. Naughty but part of being a biker mate :D
 
The simple solution is if the exit only has unmanned booths just pull up next to your mate and pop through at the same time. Naughty but part of being a biker mate :D

And mistime your exit, just as the barrier comes down. True comedy.
 
If your using a lot of toll roads consider getting a tag. I put mine in the top of my tank bag don’t even have to take it out at the barriers. The tolls then come automatically out of your account.
 


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