A barrier toll system (also known as an open toll system) is a method of collecting tolls on highways using

toll barrier A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road for which a fee (or '' toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented to help recoup the costs of road construction and maintenanc ...

s at regularly spaced intervals on the toll road's mainline. Motorists are typically charged a flat-rate toll, unlike toll roads with a

ticket system A ticket system, also known as a closed toll collection system, is a system used on some toll roads in which a user pays a toll rate based on the distance traveled from their originating entrance to their destination exit. The correct toll is d ...

where the toll rate is determined by the distance traveled or number of exits passed. Some highways use coin-drop machines on toll plazas. For toll roads whose ramps have no toll plazas, it is possible to exit the toll road before the mainline toll plaza, use local streets to bypass it, then re-enter the highway via an interchange on the other side of the toll plaza. Thus it is possible to drive on some barrier toll roads while paying less or not paying at all; this is the basis of the "open" descriptor. There are two main methods by which planners may prevent such toll evasion. One method is to simply remove highway entrances after and exits before toll plazas, so that detouring around toll plazas becomes such an inconvenience that most users will not bother. Another method is to place toll plazas on exits before and entrances after mainline toll barriers, so that all users will always have to pay at least one toll, regardless of entry or exit point. The second method is sometimes called a "barrier-ramp" system; it can be deemed open or closed, respectively, depending upon whether it is consistently applied to all entrances and exits, or only some of them. Examples of the second method may be found on the

Everett Turnpike The Frederick E. Everett Turnpike, also called the Central New Hampshire Turnpike, is a controlled-access toll road in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, running from the Massachusetts border at Nashua north to Concord. The Everett Turnpike i ...

, the

Garden State Parkway The Garden State Parkway (GSP) is a Controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll road that stretches the north–south length of eastern New Jersey from the state's southernmost tip near Cape May, New Jersey, Cape May north to the New York ...

, and the Autostrada dei Laghi. The barrier toll system can create more congestion than the ticket system, since it forces all motorists to stop for several toll plazas each time they travel down the highway.

Open road tolling Open road tolling (ORT), also called all-electronic tolling, cashless tolling, or free-flow tolling, is the collection of tolls on toll roads without the use of tollbooths. An electronic toll collection system is usually used instead. The major ...

can alleviate this issue by allowing most users to proceed through the barrier at full speed.

Highways where used

The following is a list of some toll roads that use the barrier system: *

Maine Turnpike Interstate 95 (I-95) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs north–south from Miami, Florida to Houlton, Maine. The highway enters Maine from the New Hampshire state line in Kittery, Maine, Kittery and runs for to the Cana ...

Spaulding Turnpike The Spaulding Turnpike is a controlled-access toll road in eastern New Hampshire. Its entire length is overlapped by New Hampshire Route 16 (NH 16). Its southern terminus is at the Portsmouth Traffic Circle (I-95/ US 1 Byp.) in Portsmouth, a ...

* Blue Star Turnpike (only one barrier exists for both directions of traffic in Hampton, plus the interchange with NH 101 also in Hampton) *

Delaware Route 1 Delaware Route 1 (DE 1) is the longest numbered state highway in the U.S. state of Delaware. The route runs from the Maryland state line in Fenwick Island, Delaware, Fenwick Island, Sussex County, Delaware, Sussex County, where the ...

* Delaware Turnpike (only one barrier exists for both directions of traffic in Newark) *

Atlantic City Expressway The Atlantic City Expressway, officially numbered, but Unsigned highway, unsigned, as Route 446 and abbreviated A.C. Expressway, ACE, or ACX, and known locally as the Expressway, is a Controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll roa ...

West Virginia Turnpike Interstate 77 (I-77) in the US state of West Virginia is a major north–south Interstate Highway. It extends for between Bluefield, West Virginia, Bluefield at the Virginia state line and Williamstown, West Virginia, Williamstown at the ...

Indiana Toll Road The Indiana Toll Road, officially the Indiana East–West Toll Road, is a controlled-access toll road that runs for east–west across northern Indiana from the Illinois state line to the Ohio state line. It has been advertised as the "Main ...

(between the Illinois state line and Portage toll barrier; the Indiana Toll Road uses a ticket system from the Portage toll barrier to the Ohio state line)

Highways that formerly used the barrier system

* Connecticut Turnpike - Entire length (tolls removed in 1985) * Dallas North Tollway—entire length (replaced by open road tolling on December 11, 2010) * New England Thruway (replaced by

open road tolling Open road tolling (ORT), also called all-electronic tolling, cashless tolling, or free-flow tolling, is the collection of tolls on toll roads without the use of tollbooths. An electronic toll collection system is usually used instead. The major ...

on December 19, 2018) *

President George Bush Turnpike The President George Bush Turnpike (PGBT) is a controlled-access toll road running through the northern, northeastern and western suburbs, forming a partial beltway around Dallas, Texas, United States. It is named for the late George H. W. Bush ...

—entire length (replaced by open road tolling on July 1, 2009) * Camino Colombia Toll Road—entire length for its duration as a privately owned toll road from the late 1990s until 2004. * Most roads of Illinois Tollway system (replaced by

all-electronic tolling Open road tolling (ORT), also called all-electronic tolling, cashless tolling, or free-flow tolling, is the collection of tolls on toll roads without the use of tollbooths. An electronic toll collection system is usually used instead. The major ...

in 2020)

References

{{Toll road Toll (fee) Road infrastructure