tolls are mostly on bridges. I do not think there are any in the LA area. We drove down Hwy 101 through Hollywood from Monterey and did not encounter any. There may be a bridge in San Diego that has a toll, but not on 101.

For the most part, yes, you can avoid the Tool Roads in Orange County and San Diego County, but you do end up going out of your way to certain points. The good thing, this year, all the Toll Roads will have cash options, sometimes an automatic collector, so you might need to carry loose coins around, otherwise a human collector. (Some visitors are already planning trips during 2014, so that is why the info about upcoming changes is included).

Express Lanes can be avoided by using the main lanes right next to them. As implied, they tend to be faster and you can avoid some of the congestion. Just make sure and read the signs carefully to avoid them. In some place it can be tricky.

So you can avoid the Toll roads/Express Lanes currently, but then, the Golden Gate Bridge is going to all electronic collection very soon, and that one road is hard to avoid if you want to drive in the area. (Detours are available, but can add a lot of miles to your trip). And then many more locations are going to all electornic on the Toll Roads, such as the Orange County road in 2014, and more than likely, other San Francisco Bay Area bridges, once folks get the Golden Gate rules down, due to the labor savings.

I think the writer of that article must pay heed to all the comments in that original feedback and to posters such as above

That article is VERY CONFUSING and does not seem to be written for the average visitor.

There are two things visitors need to know. There are toll roads and express lanes in CA and they can be used but one needs a transponder to be on the safe side (and to not worry which one has cash v/s no cash) The average visitor can go around CA ROADS without paying tolls. Bridges are the exception in the SF Bay area if you want to get into SF

I wish the poster in #3 would answer the specific question

The OP does not need to use any toll roads and will be just fine. The OP does not have a car in SF so again no toll is to be paid on those bridges. NO Car means NO Toll

The poster in #3 writes

>>>>Some visitors are already planning trips during 2014, so that is why the info about upcoming changes is included).

We know people are budget conscious and would like to pay and spend as little as possible but to say that people are planning vacations in 2014 based on potential toll roads sounds very very far fetched to me. I would be shocked if 99.99999% of the people worked on the 2014 vacations and sat down and made detailed maps and routes based on toll roads. All of it adds more confusion. Visitors from other parts of the world are more worried about driving on the other side of the road, CA road rules, and not about planning routes to avoid tolls. People are nervous about traffic jams but again the average visitor uses the road just a few times and can adjust their travel time

A top question should be question that is frequently asked on the CA forum and that is NOT a TOP question. It was asked perhaps less than 2-3 times since that article was posted. To say that posting that TQ resulted in few questions being asked would be a joke.

I live in Southern California and go to LA and to San Francisco.

I have never needed to pay a toll and will continue to drive without a transponder in my car!

The reason this is possible is that only certain LANES on the road need the transponder. These are 4 and 5 lane highways so you just stay out of those lanes and you are OK.

The only possible place you MIGHT need one would be IF you were entering San Francisco on the Golden Gate Bridge.

The poster in thread 3 wrote

>>>For the most part, yes, you can avoid the Tool Roads in Orange County and San Diego County, but you do end up going out of your way to certain points.

Riff M -- We have used 73 when we were there for a month and we going back and forth and we also used the toll roads when we went to Fontana and other places from Anaheim but we had locals with us who love that road.

But in the cities that the OP wants to visit, do you think there are any detours the OP has to make ? I can see the OP going along the coast to Laguna beach and then either taking 1 down or going down 5 to San Diego ? Where is this out of the way route that the poster in #3 is referring to ?

I've lived in LA for 19 years and have never paid a toll - and I go out of town on weekend trips pretty regularly, especially to the San Diego area - using the 5 or 15, and 8. I know the 110 in LA has the new transponder requirement for car pool lanes in some areas (and the 10 too, I think). Just don't use the carpool lanes. These should be well marked (I do realize they might not be though) and it is confusing - so my advice would be to avoid carpool lanes in LA county. Toll roads are clearly marked though.

I'm not surprised the OP is confused by the information in that Top Question. I live here and find it confusing. And we had a long thread (linked above) where many California residents felt that the info was unnecessary.

I'll be driving to San Diego next week. And I won't be paying a toll.

Also I wonder why the author of that so called Top Question moves that Question up in that list above the ones that get asked so many times a day -- the LA to SF Coastal route or the Yosemite route --

It has been moved down that list of top questions and I would appreciate it if other DEs make sure it is not moved up to further confuse others

I have also added this post and the other post as comments to that TQ so that people get a FAIR and BALANCED view of the information. I would urge other locals to also add their comments to that Traveler article.

NO belomiser I do not think the OP will need to go out of their way at all to avoid tolls! In fact I don't think they will even see a toll road except for a sign telling them about an exit to one in Orange County.

We have never felt the need to use that road so I don't see why a visitor would need to for their short time here!!!

In going from San Diego to Palm Springs there are even FREE express lanes still available on the I-15 sooo no worries at all if they choose to go that way.