Can Roam Tags Help You Save?

Toll roads are a fact of life here in metropolitan Australia. As any driver who frequents the road in and around Sydney will know, there are plenty of tolls. It used to be you had no option other than waiting in queues to hand your money to a toll operator. With the emergence of new technology, today toll collection has moved to the tag system—an electronic device that counts how many times you pass a toll checkpoint, and then bills you at the end of the month. When posing the question “Can roam tags help you save?”, the answer is dependent on what you are asking is saved. Time spent on the freeway? Yes. Hassle when it comes to payment? Hopefully. Money spent on the tolls? With roam tags, you do not save any money on the actual tolls themselves, those prices are set and remain the same.

ETag Providers

There are various companies on the market that document your travel expenses and collect your money; they pretty much all the same capabilities—Roam’s eTag, RTA eToll and EWay just to name a few. Each of these providers are all set up for the Sydney area. Toll road prices are standard, so any money saved or spent is dependent on the service chosen. It’s best to do your research when choosing one as some may be running special or policies have changed.

What is standard with all providers is the charge of a “deposit fee” to have the box (the eTag device) for your car. Prices range from $30 – $50 per device and although companies consider this a fee that will be refunded when services are cut off (and because residents will continue to need these tags if they plan on traveling toll roads) the fee is usually never reimbursed.

Hidden Fees And Avoiding Them And Taking Advantage Of Freebies

Depending on the frequency you will be using tolls, Roam and the other providers offer different options when it comes to electronic tags. Assuming you are a resident, the eTag account is for those who travel the roads on a consistent basis (the other two options are geared more towards visitors or infrequent travelers. When it comes to paying your monthly fee, you have the choice of the “Set and Forget” option for automatic draft. Or you have the opportunity to manually pay every month, for which Roam will charge you a $1.30 admin fee. If you are someone who likes to receive monthly notifications of charges accrued, it’s going to cost you. It is free to check them online for yourself, but email and fax are $1 per month and notification via post is a whopping $5! Should you choose the automatic payment, and pay the $40 refundable deposit fee, you have the opportunity to qualify for “fee free”—an additional $50 in free tolls.

EWay has plenty of hidden fees as well. Although they boast being the best provider when it comes to the M5 Cashback program, there are a host of fees that can add up quickly. For example, should you not travel a toll road in a three month period, EWay has an inactivity fee of $6 per quarter. EWay claims you can avoid this by using the eTag once every 3 months. This company also charges an additional 1.2% for those who wish to pay using their American Express card. Should you want to pay your tolls via telephone, using their customer service will cost you an additional $5 per monthly transaction. Post notification will also run you $2.20 per month or quarter.

Although one of the more preferred providers RTA e-Toll does not come without it’s hidden costs. In addition to having to pay the $40 startup fee for the e-Toll device, frequent users must pay $60 up front for the future use of tools. The start up fees range from $1.50 (online) to $3.30 via telephone. To “manage” a tag, it will run you an additional $1.25 per month. And should you have more tags associated with one account, the fee drop to $1 for the second, $.75 for the third and any other tag after that is $.50 each.

Cashback For M5 Tolls

When Bob Carr made the promise that the new road in Western Sydney wouldn’t be a toll road, citizens were less than happy when a toll was announced. To amend for this doublespeak, eTag users that fit a specific set of criteria are allowed to get cash back from using these tolls. Provided that you are a NSW resident and have an electronic tag from an approved provider, you have the opportunity to receiving cash back for M5 tolls at Hammondville. This cashback incentive allows those who are considered private motorists, pensioners or those who fall in the charitable bracket to claim cash back for using the M5 at the end of each quarter. The trick here though, is that this cash back scheme does not occur automatically. You must notify your electronic tag provider when you open the account and complete the form and attach your usage statement every quarter at rta.nsw.gov.au. Also, when signing up for this option, check with your company to see if they charge you to collect your money.

Overall Savings

So when it comes to answering the question of whether or not the system of paying tolls saves, it is clear that not only eTags won’t save you money, they will end up costing you more in the long run. Hidden fees associated with using the devices and managing you accounts will add up quickly. What you are paying for here is, in effect, a more efficient experience on toll roads. Instead of waiting in queues to pay your tolls, motorists now have the opportunity to breeze through the tolls with less headaches and long lines. Of course, the headaches may only be temporarily replaced. Paying for tolls online or by the telephone may induce a completely new set of problems for consumers.