2879 Auto strada pay booths, and street parking.

1. Dont know if its just me, but I find it impossible to decide which of the toll booths to aim for when exiting the autostrada. The signage seems vague and appears to vary from reion to region. In the UK the signs are clear and you can tell which gate will have someone to accept cash and give change, which are automatic cash bins, which are credit card, which you need an electronic tag on your car for. In Italy most booths have blacked out windows so you cant see if its occupied to enable you to deal with a person and the signage is confusing. I hope I'm missing something and the solution is simple. Any guidance?
2. Once I'm off the autostrada and into town, we have to park. No problem usually, but recently in Teramo we parked in a designated street parking area. When we returned we had a ticket advising us of the parking fee - but there was nowhere to pay it? It almost seemed as though you were expected to find the ticket issuer and pay him as he wandered about his patch. Any guidance/thoughts on this?
The hire car company always passes on the fines I generate, which is OK by me, Im not trying to get away with it, but would dearly love to be able to "do it properly"

Category
General chat about Italy

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/06/2006 - 10:06

[QUOTE=CHEVROLET] In Italy most booths have blacked out windows so you cant see if its occupied to enable you to deal with a person and the signage is confusing. I hope I'm missing something and the solution is simple. Any guidance?[/QUOTE]

All the autostradas that I've use have a red/green traffic light to show if a booth is shut/open

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/06/2006 - 12:21

Yes, I agree, the lights tell you if a booth is open or not, but can you tell if you can pay cash or need a card as you approach them?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/06/2006 - 13:00

after a long drive from the Uk and joining the motorway system around Milano we drove all the way to an exit south of Rome. For some reason that day they couldn't accept credit cards so they issued us with a bill, payable within a short space of time. Being good citizens we went straight to the nearest autostrada exit with cash the next day - only to find that the one we'd exited at was a different company and they couldn't accept our payment. Undeterred we went off to the original booth who said we had to drive quite a way down the motorway and find a particular office at a particular exit. Our good citizenship flew out of the window and we decided to wait for a summons in the post - which never came.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/06/2006 - 13:00

after a long drive from the Uk and joining the motorway system around Milano we drove all the way to an exit south of Rome. For some reason that day they couldn't accept credit cards so they issued us with a bill, payable within a short space of time. Being good citizens we went straight to the nearest autostrada exit with cash the next day - only to find that the one we'd exited at was a different company and they couldn't accept our payment. Undeterred we went off to the original booth who said we had to drive quite a way down the motorway and find a particular office at a particular exit. Our good citizenship flew out of the window and we decided to wait for a summons in the post - which never came.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/06/2006 - 13:12

It always feels like russian roulette! straight out of the airport straight on to the autostrada. and then the exit ............ do either of us have any change is normally the question as we scrat about for Euros, the pressure builds if there isn't enough. what do we do with a note if the booth is change only>........Fortunately we have so far always had the change but I know the day will come when we have a note and the machine does not understand . I so dread that day!!:)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/06/2006 - 13:21

I do - I always take a bag of change on each trip!!!

Also - never - omit to take the ticket on entry - as you could find yourself paying the full length of the motorway on your exit.

IT happened to me once - as the barrier was up when I arrived to enter the motorway - and when I got to the exit I had to pay ten times the usual fee on the spot fine - and to pay the full amount in 7 days - fortunately an Italian friend went to the booth the next day - and managed to persuade the man - that the ticket flew out the window - I got a form to say that the fine had been quashed

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/06/2006 - 15:31

Pretty straightforward:

Yellow signs that say TELEPASS are for those who have the electronic transponder that bills their bank account. SOME Telepass entrances also issue a ticket for those who do not have a transponder, if it has a sign with a driver reaching for a ticket you can go in. I believe yellow lines take you in for the exit.

Blue is for VIA CARD which is either a prepaid car or a you can use your major credit card.

Cassa with a hand on it means there is a person there. Cassa with no hand or coins on it or cassa automatica is a machine that gives change back.

No sign other than the redlight/greenlight means there is a person there, probably very bored.

I believe this accurate, anybody else?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 03/07/2006 - 13:41

I think all this must be very straight forward unless you approach the toll booths like a bullet from a gun like most of the drivers behind you. Last week we were merrily putting in our change when bang!!!*!! we looked across at the toll booth next to us and a guy in a van had banged into the back of a chap in a fiat cinquecento ooops!!! I just thanked God it wasn't us in a hire car!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 03/07/2006 - 23:32

I sure this one of the manoeuvre that’s part of the Italian drive test along with leaving only enough room for a fag paper when performing the tailgate manoeuvre.

The joys of driving in Italy, I’m going over next week can’t wait.

Big bag of change for the Tolls is a must.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 03/10/2006 - 09:06

[QUOTE=F Bower]after a long drive from the Uk and joining the motorway system around Milano we drove all the way to an exit south of Rome. For some reason that day they couldn't accept credit cards so they issued us with a bill, payable within a short space of time. Being good citizens we went straight to the nearest autostrada exit with cash the next day - only to find that the one we'd exited at was a different company and they couldn't accept our payment. Undeterred we went off to the original booth who said we had to drive quite a way down the motorway and find a particular office at a particular exit. Our good citizenship flew out of the window and we decided to wait for a summons in the post - which never came.[/QUOTE]

Same thing happened to me last month. The credit card, which I had been using for fuel and all the other autostradas, kept being spat out saying unable to read card! Whilst I was rummaging for another credit card a ticket was issued, with various options of where to pay, one being the post office, but there was no time to visit a post office as I was on my way back to the UK. I was going to post it to my friend in Rome and ask her to pay it, but if you never heard anything maybe they don't chase up unpaid tickets in foreign lands? Or maybe I can just go to a post office when I return at Easter although that will be outside of the time limit for paying.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 03/15/2006 - 07:39

THANKS FOR THAT, I WILL TRY AND BE ON THE BALL NEXT TIME I APPROACH A TOLL BOOTH (NEXT WEEK!)

[QUOTE=Big Johnny]Pretty straightforward:

Yellow signs that say TELEPASS are for those who have the electronic transponder that bills their bank account. SOME Telepass entrances also issue a ticket for those who do not have a transponder, if it has a sign with a driver reaching for a ticket you can go in. I believe yellow lines take you in for the exit.

Blue is for VIA CARD which is either a prepaid car or a you can use your major credit card.

Cassa with a hand on it means there is a person there. Cassa with no hand or coins on it or cassa automatica is a machine that gives change back.

No sign other than the redlight/greenlight means there is a person there, probably very bored.

I believe this accurate, anybody else?[/QUOTE]

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 03/15/2006 - 08:19

[QUOTE=CHEVROLET]1. Dont know if its just me, but I find it impossible to decide which of the toll booths to aim for when exiting the autostrada. The signage seems vague and appears to vary from reion to region. In the UK the signs are clear and you can tell which gate will have someone to accept cash and give change, which are automatic cash bins, which are credit card, which you need an electronic tag on your car for. In Italy most booths have blacked out windows so you cant see if its occupied to enable you to deal with a person and the signage is confusing. I hope I'm missing something and the solution is simple. Any guidance?
[/QUOTE]

The signage is clear enough but perhaps you would prefer if it were written in English - it may vary a little depending on which operating company is in charge though.
I think it is the exit for Val Gardena on the A22 where they have a big sign above the telepass lanes: "NO TOURISTS". Perhaps this would have helped you Chevrolet but you probably would have got the hump at that too. :rolleyes: