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Pensacola Beach Toll To Go All Electronic, No More Cash By Spring
December 6, 2019
The Escambia County Commission voted Thursday night to stop accepting cash for tolls to Pensacola Beach.
Beginning as early as March only electronic payments will be accepted for the toll to cross the Bob Sikes Bridge; toll takers will not take cash. The funding for the conversion and needed signage will come from toll funds.
The county experimented with suspending cash payments during Blue Angels and Fourth of July weekends. And now they’ve decided it really will speed up traffic to the beach to do away with cash.
Drivers will pay by SunPass, Toll-by-Plate or E-Pass when the conversion is complete.
Comments
47 Responses to “Pensacola Beach Toll To Go All Electronic, No More Cash By Spring”
I live in Gulf breeze and sometimes during the summer I have to leave home sometimes an hour early because of the traffic. Some of my coworkers who live more inland have to leave at most 3 hours before their shift to ensure they make it to work on time. I have the Escambia cameras saved both on my phone and computer because the traffic can change in a split second. Since they changed the lanes I have been able to breeze through the toll and not have to worry. So I believe this will make everything even more of a breeze, because there is no unnecessary stopping or lane switching. Some people cut me off due to not knowing which lane to take, putting theirs, mine, and others lives at risk. This will also eliminate that issue. Thank you for coming to Pensacola Beach & have a nice day. Hope to see you again soon… or not.
Get rid of the toll and raise the sales tax or the bed tax on the beach to make up the difference .
Lol at all these dinosaurs complaining
How can they legally keep us from the National Seashore
I’m retired and will take my business and visits to Perdido Key. I have a Senior National Parks pass and will use it.
Grand Marlin, Crabs, Peg-Legs, Sidelines, Native Cafe – sorry but I won’t be eating at your establishments once the rip-off toll-by-plate begins. My children and their families have been renting Condo’s by the week on Pensacola Beach for years. That is about to change to Perdido Key/Orange Beach/Gulf Shores area.
Hello Tacky Jacks, Sea and Suds and Pink Pony, here we come.
Goodbye Bands on the Beach.
I’ve never used the Garcon Bridge or Destin Bridge and refuse to pay the outrageous toll.
The County Commissioners need to be voted out and put some people in there that work for the people.
About time, those who don’t like it can go to Destin more room for the real locals…. see ya!
A lot of misinformed people posting here
No monthly fees to b paid for a pass.
Have fun in the Destin traffic, while I Zipp over to the beach with no waiting for for people to figure out what lane to get in at the toll booth.
I am with the locals that go 10 or 12 times a year, and most likely this will cut my trips out because if the additional trouble and aggravation of buying passes in advance, maintaining an account or fiddling with mailed payments .i check my mail once a month anymore since I pay my expenses with the punch of a button on my phone. I can foresee this being one more aggravation to going to the beach and will likely schedule friendly meet ups elsewhere. My family has a condo so they have a sun pass, I suppose I will look at it but not likely worth it to me.
I have been following this story in general since the summer when one night arbitrarily without notice the powers that be stopped taking cash that evening. I never did get a bill in the mail. But anyway in most of the comments I have read about this issue the majority of people are against eliminating the $1 cash toll. This tells me that the county commissioners either do not follow social media or more than likely just don’t care. However making the toll bridge all electronic still does not address the biggest issue that causes traffic problems on the beach and that is the lack of parking. Also adding to the traffic woes in the near future is the roundabouts they keep talking about adding. All I got to say is “Hey look kids, there’s Big Ben”!
So a second attempt to automate? It would be much better to simply get rid of the toll but with all matters related to revenue, once the “trough” (tolls, taxes, fees) is built, it must be filled (money) to sustain those (programs, bureaucracies, etc.) who feed from it. Cynicism aside, it (use of technology) is a great idea. After this project succeeds, perhaps the county can ban writing personal checks as well (I’m being literal here).
Finally.
A good move .
Sounds like its lessening traffic as I read these comments.
@Norman—Might work well for you or others, but I think you are missing the point of my arguments against it & that of others who have legitimate objections. This getting a pass & maintaining an account should not be necessary, if they would keep one cash only lane. I don’t need one more account to keep track of a balance. How many times a year does traffic get backed up at the toll booth. I don’t think that many. I am not in that much of a hurry that I can’t wait a short time more.
I was born and raised in Gulf Breeze. I’ve lived here my entire 42 years of life. By no means do I think that it’s ok for them to stop taking cash, but after reading all the comments above and how they all say that they will no longer come here because it….I am absolutely ecstatic. Gulf Brreze and Pensacola Beach has absolutely been ruined by overpopulation and all the tourists. Hopefully more will decide to skip over us and go to Destin or Panama City
Your cheapest option is to buy a $5 sunpass window sticker, sign up for an online sunpass account, and load it up with$10.00. Once that is done then you can go through the sunpass Lane for only a dollar, and that dollar then gets debited from your sunpass account every time you go to the beach. That $5 window sticker will last for years. The$20.00 beach pass will also require you to get a sunpass account and window sticker for $5.00 also. The $20 dollars then allows unlimited trips.
I propose a consortium of citizens get together, name the commissioners who voted for this measure, put together an organization with strong candidates and force these people out in the next election. Relieve them of their position since they obviously didn’t care to listen to their constituents. Use the power of your vote, and get people in who over turn this non-sense. “They use it in other places”. So, what? This is not other places. This is OUR home.
@Karen—Excuse me, but there is at least an initial fee for getting the transponder device that is needed. $19.99 or $4.99 for a mini one, whatever that is, & not sure what the difference is between the two. I had thought that there was also a monthly fee, but maybe not. There is an “administration fee” in addition to the toll fee, for those getting billed by mail. Interesting how they might handle rental car billing. I assume they have no way of enforcing the payment by out of state license plates drivers, by those who might refuse to pay. They can though penalize FL people who refuse to pay, as I have heard they can refuse to renew a plate or drivers license, until the bill is paid. I live in Milton, & rarely go to the beach, so I can’t see me getting a Sun Pass or getting billed by mail. While the beach may be a nice place to visit, I think that much is overpriced there, especially many restaurants. Just not worth my paying extra to visit. If I do decide to visit, I will go with someone who has a Pass, or take the leisurely scenic route from Navarre up, & avoid the toll entirely. Just a question of time I am sure, before pay parking at the beach. I don’t need that either, & may never go again, if that should happen. They really need to have at least one cash only lane. It would seem to me to be illegal to not be able to pay cash, but I am sure that FL has a lot of highly paid lawyers to fight that. As others have mentioned, what about those who don’t have credit cards or other means to pay getting billed by mail, but do have that dollar bill cash in their pocket.
Brains…
If you are coming from Pensacola and traveling hwy 98,
there are no tolls on the way to Destin.
That would be $0.00 in tolls not $12.00
“We’Re gOiNG tO dEsTiN FRoM nOw oN!!!”
You folks know you’ll pay like $12 in tolls to conveniently get to Destin, right?
Our Commissioner vote “for” it.
Don’t forget about it election time.
Purchase of a SunPass can be used anywhere in the state and the Pcola Bridge annual pass is only $20. Or just pay the few dollars more for the admin fee if you rarely visit the beach. To think that people would rather drive to Destin is laughable considering the additional fuel costs and higher volume of traffic congestion. I’ll happily pay my $20 annual bridge pass (used to be $50) and enjoy crossing the bridge without waiting for all the cash toll payers to realize they’re in the wrong lane and blocking my route. Lastly, how many complainers voiced their opinions at the BOCC meeting? Answer: few or none.
The Commissioners will hear from the voters when they come up for re-election. Pensacola native.
Florida is wonderful, with no state income tax. Instead,we rely in great part on tourism to generate money used for all sorts of state necessities. The unsuspecting tourist who find themselves in this electronic toll situation will pass the word to their friends and that will be a negative for us when the tourists stop coming. Like Charlie, I don’t cross the bridges often enough to warrant the fees for an annual pass. And it will be even less so if the only way is electronic. How much does it save to mail out bills to drivers, to process the paperwork involved? Is this a wise decision?
I go only a few times a year, and now I will be paying more than a dollar per trip via toll-by-plate. That is bogus bullcrap. I understand the need for relief of the congestion, but I do not agree with the higher charges to come. All the locals for the past 30 40 years or so that has supported that toll bridge is now getting screwed because of this decision. I agree with a comment leave one lane open for cash or even two lanes.
perfect opportunity to NOT go to the beach that I pay taxes to go to(ironic isn’t it) I have to pay extra to go to a place that my taxes help to fund, and now they will charge me a service charge to get there so they don’t have traffic problems? They also put people out of work that collected the tolls. It’ll be like a drive-thru Walmart checkout now…….only cost more! Time to vote out some incumbent commissioners.
THE TOLL WAS SUPPOSE TO STOP YEARS AGO WHEN THE BRIDGE WAS PAID FOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NO TOLL NO TOLL NO TOLL NO TOLL NO TOLL NO TOLL NO TOLL
PAID PARKING
@ Charlie – You don’t have to pay a monthly fee of any kind for a Sun Pass. You can go online & add funds whenever necessary. It’s very convenient.
Isn’t that bridge paid off?
We don’t go to Pensacola beach anyhow – overcrowded, overrated, red light cameras through Gulf Breeze, and this long-running, cash grabbing toll. Plenty of other beach to go to.
I visit Pensacola Beach frequently, staying at the hotels, shopping, eating at restaurants, etc. I will not pay for a pass and the toll-by-plate method only adds high administration fees. So, my trips to PB will end and I will spend my beach time somewhere else.
Perdido Keys and Gulf Shores are looking real good!!!
So what how does that work for those of us who make like 1 or 2 trips a year? They take a pic of our plate and send us the bill? Not sure I like that idea…lots of room for errors with that…and seems like a lot more record keeping on the adminstrative end.
Well it seems as though more jobs may be taken away. With the all electronic tolls there wont be a need for a human to be there any longer. They will make more money by removing the workers
I agree with Charlie. I also wonder if it is legal not to accept cash. Was this done so that the elite of the beach can exclude or hinder certain other groups from coming to “their” island?
Not very welcoming to tourists.
One lane should remain cash.
Remember this next election.
I come down to visit my brother a couple of times a year. I don’t get the electronic thing in the rental car. It costs to much extra. So how is that going to work? Won’t be able to even visit the beach?
How long before all of the employees are out of a job because everything is automated? Is that the goal?, to pocket more money at the expense of others?
Goodbye Pensacola Beach. It was fun for all those decades while it lasted.
I have received tag invoices in the mail from other parts of Florida in which I traveled and have to say that “they” do not yet have all the kinks worked out in this system. Also, the invoices contain not just the toll fee but an administration fee that, in my case, was more than the toll! Paying the invoice(s) was cumbersome at best and the customer service was just short of a nightmare! Why does the County have to force this on everyone for just a few heavy traffic times a year? Keep one lane open for cash, PLEASE!
I will make it a point to avoid PENSACOLA Beach. Maybe this is the intent? The tourist will pay a toll plus admin fee.
Of course, if we had fought the toll in the first place (“it’s only $1”) we wouldn’t have this problem.
So, let me get this straight? I will have to pay $19.99/year + the toll fee that arrives in the mail all for going to the beach maybe 5 times a year. Even if I went every Saturday in May, June and July, I would still be loosing money. I feel as if I’m being robbed. Over 3 years time, I would have paid $60 +tolls for what would have cost me maybe $15 for my average of 15 trips to the beach.
I will quit going there once cash is not accepted. I only make a dozen trips to P’cola Beach a year now, but that will stop. We rent a large house there every year, making multiple trips to and from town to shop, but we don’t have to choose Pensacola next year.
Thanks a lot County Commissioners, you found the best way to keep locals off the beach. You found the perfect way to keep us off the beach. You couldn’t put folks to work and keep all booths open, no go electronic and charge US for the inconvenience. Thanks a lot will remember you at voting time.
My family and I have enjoyed pensaola beach and its hotels since 1985. Thats 34 years.That will now come to an end if the cash lane is removed. Destin…here we come.
I agree with Charlie. I will not be going to the beach and if they start adding toll roads to Escambia County the way they have in the rest of the state, I guess it’ll just take me longer to get places. I refuse to pay a toll for a road my taxes have already paid for.
This has been the process in most of the country for at least a decade. Thank you Escambia County for a common sense solution that will help ease the traffic flow to the beach!
enjoy beachgoers until that one sunny day when the system crashes – then chaos will ensue
I don’t like this idea at all! I feel the county commissioners should let the people they represent, vote on issues such as this, which will impact anyone who likes to make an occasional trip to the beach for dinner, Bands on the Beach, lunch at Peg Leg Pete’s or any unsuspecting visitor/tourist who arrives back home, after visiting our beautiful beaches, to find a bill with fees, in their mail box.
We don’t really care what the other counties are doing. Why can’t they just leave well enough ALONE!
@Charlie…I completely agree…they need to have at least one lane that is cash only. Are they going to swipe my card when I decide I want to go to the beach. I’m not paying a monthly fee for the few trips I do take.
It may also speed things up a few seconds more, with me longer going. I don’t go often enough to justify the monthly fees for a pass, nor will I stand for getting a fee bill in the mail, for what was my occasional usage of the bridge. How about having one lane for cash only? Gonna be a whole lot of unsuspecting ticked off tourists when they get that bill in the mail. I also see that the Garcon Point bridge fee may increase to $5 per trip ($10 round-trip) for autos, & higher for vehicles with more axles. I haven’t used it & refuse to do so since the last increase. I feel sorry for those that feel they must use it. They should learn the Walmart principal of doing business. You get more money in the end, by doing a higher volume from having LOWER prices.