Toll roads often offer a shorter route with considerably less traffic, but drivers may prefer to know the cost ahead of time. Many state transportation departments in the U.S.A. offer calculators for the toll roads within their state, and the website at http://www.freewebs.com/tollcalculator/ provides free links to more than a dozen of them. A quick online search by country reveals that many
. countries in Europe and Asia have their own interactive calculators for toll roads, although not all include English translations. Most toll calculators factor in variables such as the weight and number of axles on a vehicle. Passenger vehicles generally require a lower toll than the charge for buses or heavy trucks. Some calculators account for different tolls at busier times of day and others show the toll depending on whether the driver pays cash or has enrolled in a discounted pass program. Other discounts may apply for senior citizens or people in a car pool. The site at http://bigriglife.bravehost.com/tools.html offers links to the toll calculators in 18 states, optimized for truckers, but useful for all drivers. Australia offers a web-cam and toll calculator at the site http://www.citylink.com.au/webcams/map.html. The page at http://www2.kumagaku.ac.jp/teacher/~masden/tolls/index.html offers an English guide to Japan's interactive calculator. Although the calculator itself is only in Japanese, it only requires clicking on various points on a map to find the toll between cities. The PLUS expressway in Malaysia provides a calculator at the site http://malaysiads.com/services/malaysia-highway-toll-rates-calculator/ which divides vehicles into five classes ranging from bicycles and motorcycles to large trucks and buses. Websites such as http://www.viamichelin.com/web/Maps and http://en.mappy.com/ include toll information along with routing maps for countries throughout the world. Although some tolls seem quite expensive, toll roads often save hours of driving and generally feature better maintenance. Knowing the toll in advance allows the driver to have the correct change ready, and toll calculator websites may also include tips to get discounts or to go through the toll lines faster by getting a pass online in advance. More Reference Links: http://bigriglife.bravehost.com/tools.html http://en.mappy.com/
