Starting next month, the Dulles Toll Road will no longer accept cash or coins and all drivers will pay electronically.
The "pay-by-plate" toll payment system for drivers not using E-ZPass or similar payment devices will begin March 1.
Motorists who don’t pay tolls electronically will be identified by their vehicle license plate and receive an invoice to their registered address, officials said.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said eliminating cash toll collection is expected to speed traffic flow and reduce vehicle emissions.
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“If you think about it, there’s five toll roads in the region. We are the last one that takes cash. Cash is very labor intensive. It’s very cumbersome," Stephen Settle, the MWAA's Dulles Toll Road manager, told News4.
E-ZPass customers will still pay $4 for main plaza access and $2 for ramps, while pay-by-plate will cost drivers $5.60 for the main plaza and $3.60 for ramps due to an extra fee that covers the cost of preparing and processing invoices, the airports authority said.
At the height of coin collection, workers for the toll road sorted more than $1 million in coins each month.
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Now, most drivers pay electronically. Just 2% of drivers paid with coins in 2022, according to the airports authority.
Some drivers who spoke with News4 Monday say it's no longer practical to carry $4 in toll money.
"Do you know how much that weighs? In a purse?" one woman said. "At least a pound.”
