By mid-2016, the Florida SunPass will be accepted throughout much of the Southeastern United States, thus allowing drivers travel from Texas to South Carolina with a minimal amount of slowdowns on toll roads.
The prepaid electronic toll device, which has almost eliminated the need to pay tolls in traditional manner of tossing coins in a box, is currently accepted in Georgia and North Carolina. Those two states have a reciprocal agreement with Florida permitting their electronic toll devices to work there as well.
At a Miami meeting on July 14 with almost 600 toll-road operators, Florida Turnpike CEO and executive director Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti spelled out the progress of the prepaid toll systems. South Carolina is in the testing phase of the transponders and is expected to be on board with SunPass soon, with Texas and Alabama anticipated to follow suit next year.
According to Gutierrez-Scaccetti, the day will come when the need for multiple toll-related stickers to drive cross-country or pay tolls by hand will be eliminated. With the assistance of brochure printers, keeping the public abreast of the issue will speed that day along.
Although the public may prefer that the device make more of a fanfare when it has been activated and paid a toll, every month around 100,000 new SunPasses are sold. Canadians are also buying the SunPass at the Thousand Islands Bridge, before crossing the border into upstate New York from Southeastern Canada.
