Illinois Tollway Reviews

by JarMal76

My payment card consistently doesn’t show as the right number, whether I add it here or on the website.

I traveled over a week ago and sometimes this will show that I owe something, but most of the time it shows I don’t.

The website is just as bad to be honest.

by It Said To Make A Nickname

Avoid when you can. It often processes a payment to show a positive balance and then when I go through a tollway suddenly those funds are as if the transaction never happens and suddenly my balance is negative. And if you’re negative you accrue a $20 fine per transaction. Pro tip: if you pay the fines to avoid any negative issues on your end you automatically give up your ability to dispute the fines. Paying is “an admission of guilt” so if you don’t pay it and you want to dispute the fines you have a very short window of time for that dispute to resolve before you gain another $20 fine per transaction.

In short: I've never had a positive experience with the tollway.

by Frizney

Worst toll app ever. I tried 4 different times to set up an I-Pass through IllinoisTollway and it never successfully went through. Finally got it "working" through calling customer service days later. Now fast forward a few months when I'm trying to log in and it says I don't have an I-Pass associated with my account. Where did it go??? Won't let me use my serial number either. Absolute waste of money and time to get another one, plus all the unpaid tolls I probably have in the meantime that I can't access because I can't set up Pay By Plate without an transponder. Be prepared to waste all your money living in this idiotic wasteland.

by Rylo Best Tj Fan Ever

I’m new to this whole Tarl thing, but everybody told me to sign up with iPads online add your vehicle and your license plate number and your tolls automatically get added I just received a notice in the mail almost 30 days after my traveling and even though the site says that it could take up to 30 days to show up on IllinoisTollway I was charged another $39 in fees because I didn’t pay it within 14 days told this was an automatic thing where the tolls pick up through IllinoisTollway and automatically charge to the card that’s on file that clearly did not happen

by Max The G. 1738

Came in the the oasis and I guess our account was frozen! I asked how much do we need to pay to get it out of that! She kept saying she couldn’t know how much we just had to make payment! So we did and now we asked again so how much do we owe and stated she wouldn’t know! I’m just so annoyed how they are really good to collect and send bills but don’t know exactly how much we owe! I’m just so annoyed how unprofessional and not knowing any information! Not only that two employees were arguing about whatever one of them did wrong! But that is so unprofessional and both couldn’t focus on helping customers!!!!!

by TheGame81

No way to set up iPass if you created an account using Pay by Plate. Just pure garbage of an app, pure garbage of a website. I had deleted IllinoisTollway from my phone previously, and now trying IllinoisTollway one more time made me realize that deleting IllinoisTollway from my phone was the right thing to do, so I deleted it again. When you have morons (likely from 3rd world countries) creating garbage apps, you get garbage products like IllinoisTollway. Make IllinoisTollway better. Make it user friendly. Make it easy to have pay by plate AND iPass. These are the basic points of creating a decent app, which IllinoisTollway is not!

by CoachMeg1

I got burned after last year’s trip to Chicago because I didn’t know about paying the tolls online. When I did download the confusing app and (thought I) paid, it turned out I had paid on an old plate, so I was penalized with a late fee. When I finally found a telephone number to speak with an actual person and explain the situation, I was given a “grace” period but never a resolution. I eventually ended up paying the fee plus the late penalty.

For this year’s trip, not only did I know to use IllinoisTollway , but also warned friends traveling with us about the challenges Chicago visitors face using the toll roads (which no longer have tickets/booths, only easy-to-miss/confusing signs that say “Pay online”) and reminded them to use IllinoisTollway . I just went on to see what I owe and IllinoisTollway says there are “no current charges” and that I may wait up to TWO weeks to see my charges. Unfortunately, there’s only a TWO week period to pay the tolls without penalty. So, now I wait around to see if things come through IllinoisTollway in time for me to not have to pay a penalty.

Do better, Chicago. This system is stressful to visitors and not in the least customer friendly.

by Vic243

Have any of the people giving IllinoisTollway a 5 star review activated their transponder through IllinoisTollway ? It is impossible! First it didn’t show me I had received the transponder so I closed and reopened several times until it finally showed me I could activate it. When trying to activate I would select scan the barcode and IllinoisTollway would crash. After trying several times I deleted IllinoisTollway and reinstalled. When I tried to activate again, it asked me to give the camera permission, which I did, only to see IllinoisTollway crash again. I then tried activating by entering the serial manually. The first time I tried IllinoisTollway crashed when I tried to select my car on the dropdown list. After opening IllinoisTollway again and trying a second time IllinoisTollway just froze. Uninstall and reinstall again. Try both methods a few more times. Nothing. I mean, seriously? Is it a problem with my iPhone 15 Pro Max with iOS 17 or is there something fishy with all these reviews?

by Looschange

Having just updated my payment method, on the phone with you after several attempts to wait for a callback, sent me a letter that says my card is no good. Please get your business in order. We aren’t paying tolls to so you can harass people.
Your letter says you verified with my banking institution verified that the upward was no longer valid for use. You are apparently and obviously are referring to the previous card for that account WHICH I INFORMED YOU WAS MISPLACED!!!
You took my new number and then told me everything was in order.
Get on the ball SUPERVISORS!!!!! ACCOUNTING AND CUSTOMER SERVICE.
It’s appropriate for government agencies to return calls particularly when your message says you will call back in 24-48 hours. Called twice and signed up for the call back. Nope, called a 3rd time and finally got a person. AND YOU STILL HAVE MY ACCOUNT MESSED UP. There’s nothing wrong with my payment method. I just used it today.

by JonesJJ45

I go through Indiana and Illinois once a year for a basketball tournament for my kids. Last year I set up IllinoisTollway since they do not do change in tolls any longer (shows how often I use these freeways). Last year I passed through 4 tolls in and out of the area, yet IllinoisTollway changed me only twice. Then after never showing the charges I receive and invoice with a $20 late fee for not paying the tolls they never sent me.

This year I review the details for pay by plate (same method from last year) to ensure I can drive through any lane (and they will take the picture and add to the invoice). I set up a new payment method, made sure IllinoisTollway was active and thought I’d be all set. Same trip in and same trip out, no charges to me account. Concerns me now that I will get the same type of invoice like last year with charges and late fees for no good reason.

by 2per Savage

I have received multiple notices in the past to inform me that I have no card on file I have had one on file since I have opened the account. I try to find an easy way to contact someone about the issue but none is provided just a long page of frequently asked questions. I tried to see if I could manually pay the amount I could not find one. Then I checked the payments and none where made it says but when I checked the tolls it says payment is pending and will be done next billing cycle so why do I keep getting notifications that I have no card on file and emails warning me I will be charged more for late fees when the charge is processing not the most intuitive system here in my opinion.

by Carmen Inez

I had to pick up someone at the airport and for a second I was lost and thought I may had gone through a toll. When I got back home I looked up your site and tried for hours to get in and see I have charges. I tried again and again.. I finally googled you and got the phone number and a nice lady tried to help me. The crap you have to go through to sign up and or cancel existing account or do anything is impossible. I’ve worked for customer service for over 20 year and this is the worse systems I’ve had to use. I rather poke my eye with a knife before I step foot in Chicago. You people already know how crappy y’all systems are. You do it to steal money from taxpayers. You should be ashamed of you selfs

by Esson Jon

Had to download IllinoisTollway because I couldn’t pick the correct end date through the website. Had to create an account because Pay-By-Plate actually means you have to sign up and give a whole bunch of info first. And apparently I have no tolls! I have a funny feeling the rental car company will make some excuse to charge me anyway, even though I did everything I-Pass asked of me. What a terrible way to welcome visitors to Chicago. IllinoisTollway is trash and whoever approved it should be fired. Pay-by-plate means you punch in the plate number and pay, not all of this. Tourists should be exempt so as not to turn them off from coming back. Other states do it much better, Illinois is a disappointment in so many ways.

by New Nickname-again

I’ve tried to pay my invoice 4 times and the stupid app won’t accept my payment. Why? I don’t know. I tried to pay it the day I accrued the bill but I couldn’t pay then either. Why? The website wouldn’t accept my payment then either. The website states that I need to sign into my account to pay the bill then, it doesn’t have a way to login or even get signed up.
So I get an invoice fee in the mail of an extra $18 because apparently, the state of Illinois is rather fond of billing people but, isn’t very excited about taking payments.
I know high school students who could create a better app than this. Likewise a website.

by You Nique

I found out that I needed to pay tolls online for a trip through Illinois, so I used Pay By Plate and set up an account. After my return trip, I waited two days and then checked IllinoisTollway , but there was nothing. When I checked on the 4th day, IllinoisTollway said I had unpaid tolls, but I never received a notification or text. There is not a map of my route or the toll locations to review for reasonableness. I input my credit card info to pay, but the Submit button remained unresponsive. I had to open IllinoisTollway again, save a credit card, and try again before I could successfully pay.

by Ejdidkrjfifkje Sndjf

I contacted IL tollway customer service and informed them that I made payments through IllinoisTollway but noticed when I logged into my account online that the balances did not match. She said IllinoisTollway is not affiliated with them and to only make purchases through the website as they do not have an app…

I then look at my bank account and see payments to IllinoisTollway had a different contact number that was local while transactions from the website included the IL tollway’s customer service number. Starting to think the payments I made from IllinoisTollway didn’t actually go to my IL toll account.

by Don’t Even Bother With It

I tried to process a payment through IllinoisTollway and it failed, only to find out IllinoisTollway inadvertently changes my credit card number by one digit. It shows a different number than online. No matter if I delete and re-add through IllinoisTollway or phone it always shows the wrong number on IllinoisTollway . Called customer service and was of no help. Was told to contact them via their website with a reply in 2 business days. I did twice and and get a generic reply telling me about their terms and conditions. Useless.

by Mike_S7

I loaded and used IllinoisTollway once in 2021 while traveling through your godforsaken state. Paid the tolls. Worked great! Never planned on going through there ever again so I deleted IllinoisTollway . Suddenly, I get charged for tolls on that car that I have since traded in. I only noticed when my credit card showed a charge from the Illinois tollway. Beware if you plan to use IllinoisTollway once and never visit again. Remember to remove all cards and cars from IllinoisTollway before “deleting” IllinoisTollway - Thanks Apple, you can never really delete an app. Signed, A very disappointed app user

by Sssssssjjjj

Beware if you live in a different time zone!

Specific time and date was entered to cover tolls for a rented vehicle. The Illinois system apparently converted the time entered, which was pacific daylight time on my page to Central Daylight time on the Illinois tollway system page. This represents a 2 hour difference. This was not communicated. So on my page 3:00PM was displayed and on the Illinois tollway page they apparently saw 5:00PM and this is what was being used by the system. The result was one the tolls incurred was missed and sent to the rental car company who in turn sent the toll to us with a hefty fine.

by Px374692

My experience was that they tried to use a card that I didn’t supply, and when it was rejected, they wanted me to give them a different card, but if I’d done that, the transponder would have arrived after my trip. They suggested picking one up at Jewel/Osco, which we went out of our way to do, but then after repeated attempts by both the store customer service and later on my own, the transponder WOULD NOT ACTIVATE. Then, their customer service phone line was CLOSED until AFTER OUR TRIP. We finally had to give up and continue our trip anyway. So we spent money to get a transponder that wouldn’t work. It remains to be seen what will happen with the tolls, but since the screw up was their fault, they had better be at the 50% rate. We did EVERYTHING we could to make it work, but their process was a complete FAILURE!

by La Peoria

This is a horrible app! Last October we traveled and I had tolls I tried to pay . It always said no activity. Months later we got a bill and were charged extra because we didn’t pay on time. On Wednesday the 25th we went through 2 toll booths and tried to pay but couldn’t get IllinoisTollway to accept our email. Today the 29 we went through one booth and I have been trying to pay for an hour but cannot get anything to work. Other friends say they have tons of trouble too
FIX IllinoisTollway

by Gere Fulton

Very confusing to drivers unfamiliar with the protocol. I kept looking for a worker at the tollgates, but then realized there was nobody there. I tried to make payment online two days later, but there was no record of my plates. I’m trying hard to avoid a fine, but the system is frustrating. Illinois and West Virginia are the only states among the six that I traveled through that have toll on their INTERSTATES, but West Virginia at least has toll keepers to assist drivers. I hope I never have to be in Illinois again!

by Nlinger22

Why isn’t there a sign in option on the very first screen? When I do find the sign in option it takes me to the screen for creating a new sign in instead of to my information. A menu option would make it easier to navigate. I’ve also found that after closing IllinoisTollway and reopening it takes me back to my last screen and not the main menu nor log in option.

by User-unfriendly-system

I received invoice for four tolls plus unpaid toll fees even though I had a registered Pay By Plate with a valid credit card number. My email account and cell phone number was on my account. I received no invoices or alerts that I had used the tollway and had unpaid charges until unpaid fees were due. Why wasn’t the tolls paid automatically with the registered credit card???? I am an infrequent user of the tollway. Your website does allow me to get a text as a reminder that I have a toll invoice.

by Rembalchi

Both IllinoisTollway and the site do not work. It will not send the confirmation email despite multiple requests and trying different emails and devices. So frustrating. To message customer service they require the account number which I don’t have BECAUSE IT WONT FINISH SETTING UP MY ACCOUNT. Paying your tolls does not need to be this difficult. Do better.

by Tavlol

I’m trying to sign up and neither the website nor IllinoisTollway are working. Customer service is also hard to get ahold of. Do better Illinois tollway

by Gwmt123

Tried to enter car info - submit button was non-responsive. Deleted app and will deal with website.

by Dennisursu93

IllinoisTollway doesn’t work! Fix it! How am I supposed to pay my tolls!!???? It’s going to double because both site and app don’t work!!!!

by Chickens88

IllinoisTollway is absolutely impossible to set up. It us constantly glitching and does not allow you to complete set up. Trash!

by Woodardlandon

You should probably test your own app before putting it on IllinoisTollway Store

by Chieftain Mk3

Great idea but horrid signup, buggy and unusable on Apple ios

by Jc102800

The incompetence of this government agency is astounding.

by Lovejokes

Both online site and IllinoisTollway says “Under Maintenance” upon log in. I am about to reach my two weeks period and it was under maintenance ever since. Give us some instructions of how to pay when your site doesn’t work. Pay be call to pay instructions or something. Why is this so hard to pay online, if should be simply put your plate number and pay. Jesus….

by Alexander110101

Don’t know who is servicing state of Illinois tollways but this service is terrible.
They are ready to jump and charge you toll fees and penalties but don’t offer a system for payment. Now my payment will be late and I have to waste more time with calls and explanation why I couldn’t pay because their app and system was under maintenance!
A 4 day scheduled maintenance?!
What a joke of a service!

by Anicknametopostareview?

How are you supposed to pay your bill when you cannot go online or use IllinoisTollway ?
We will not pay the extra “fines” because YOUR website and app are inadequate!
The bill doesn’t even have a phone number to call. We do not even live in Illinois, was just a one day trip! This is absolutely ridiculous!

by RSwarick

Out of state and trying to pay the tolls but can’t. Why make it so hard?? Most states I can type on the license plate and it shows me the tolls. This one never says anything but occasionally gives me a warning that there are unpaid tolls but the rest of the message is cut off. I feel sorry for everyone who lives there

by Tequila OG

What is the point of having an app it doesn’t function properly? Unable to login iPass account to pay tolls. Long wait times for customer service and when you do connect, the call gets disconnected. IllinoisTollway is a waste of space and time.

by Bunners1983!

Why have an app at all if you can’t log in to it? I have tried to log in to IllinoisTollway every which way I can think of but I can’t log out of IPASS so I can’t log in to IllinoisTollway! The two are connected! This makes absolutely no sense! Please fix!!

by Nickt8127

Can get the site to work, but IllinoisTollway is absolute garbage logged in with my site info and nothing transferred over payments or vehicle’s try to add both to app but says error try again later what a joke and waste of tax payers money

by Deez_McFly_Nuts

I logged in but it shows no vehicles, no balance, no payment method. The website correctly shows what I owe and what vehicles I drive but IllinoisTollway shows nothing and trying to add info only results in errors

by Matt198666666

I have a account already but was forced to make a new account under my wife’s name because I can access mine to update anything. I’ve changed my password still nothing. I’ve called to many times to count but I can never get through. So after several attempts to create a account I finally did I think. I cannot input my vehicle information right now it just keeps sending me back to the beginning of the section for adding a vehicle. I hope I can when my transponders come in the mail. I’m not one to complain but it’s been like this for years. That’s why I just pay the bill when I get it in the mail. I’m sure someone who runs this department just figures the state makes more if they don’t fix the issues because they make millions in late fees and higher fees for not having a I pass. It’s a win win for them. Just another reason how Illinois is poorly ran and operated.

by Matty The Greek

The portal has a great set up. Can’t get my card number correct in the AP. I’ve removed it and tried to put it back in 4 times now, including calling in twice. Card number is correct in system according to two different phone reps, but the portal malfunctions somehow and won’t allow the last digit of my number to be correct. No matter how many times I put it in as a “2”, it changes it to a “3”. SUPER frustrating. Phone rep can’t fix it. Only told they’re gonna report it. So have to call in to make money moves, cause the web portal refuses to store the correct number. I LOVE technology 🙄

by The_angry_consumer

Clearly there was minimal or zero QA on the activation process in IllinoisTollway. Tried multiple times to activate a new transponder and kept getting “sorry, we could not activate” with no detail on what went wrong. I just went to the website and was able to knock it out with no problem. But it was a solid 45 minutes of wasted time dealing with IllinoisTollway, which looks quite similar to the website anyway.

by Smileanyway7

IllinoisTollway sent me a message saying that my card was declined. I added a different card, set it as primary and received another message that my card was declined (not sure if it was the new card or the previous card).

I crossed the tolls twice, I was waiting to pay them both at once-maybe IllinoisTollway doesn’t do that. I have not seen the second one come thru yet (I know it might take some time). So I waited to pay the first one just to see if I can take care of it at once… all fine and good. Except… when I open IllinoisTollway it says that I have a pending charge, but if I click on ANYTHING else (like my payment options), the pending charge disappears and I cannot get back to it unless I close IllinoisTollway and reopen it. So frustratingly annoying!! You’d think they’d get that glitch figured out!!

by Chubby Wagon

So now the toll road is going from transponders to stickers. But they don’t tell you how you are supposed to take the sticker that affixes to your windshield and move it to a Rent-A-Car. I guess the toll authority wants to charge you and or the rental company three times as much as if you had a transponder. The only thing the sticker is doing is saving the toll road authority from having to replace batteries. Which should be part of the cost of doing business. After all, I don’t see them, lowering the cost of the toll roads. it might be best just to go back to a cash system, back when it was only $.15 per toll.

by Dream Street Rose

I had an invoice but it made me pay with my debit card and not the balance on my Ipass account would have preferred to use that money. Just an easier way to pay and it’s in the account already. Also find it hard to use IllinoisTollway after the ipass was taken out of my car took me forever to find that the charges would be added to my account because it’s associated with my license plate. Also why can’t it just take the money off the account like the ipass does I had to actually go in and pay the invoice.

by .....@sh

I’ve had an invoice on my account since July 20th and have tried paying it several times since then. I also have an invoice since the beginning of September. I’ve tried paying them through IllinoisTollway and an error message always pops up. I’ve called Illinois tollway and they told me it takes about 2 weeks before they charge your card. My September invoices finally came off as paid but my July invoices have not. I wish I could just plug in the tolls a drove through and pay for it that way like I did a few years ago.

by Quiz Mom

I find the I-Pass app and website confusing. It seems that I am enrolled in the transponder portion, which is true, but occasionally, I also seem to be charged by the plate and that does not come out of my account even though the plate is properly registered with the transponder I just don’t get it. When I tried to look on the website at pay by plate, it just pushes me over to the transponder area, so it feels like I am destined to get unpaid toll charges because the system doesn’t work properly.

by NettieLove81

I called 2 months ago requesting access or a copy of my invoice for a pay by plate transaction and was tossed from one rep to another. Then the last one said they would call me at a particular number but I never received any call. I saw multiple transactions charged from my card I couldn’t have possibly incurred. Thank God I figured out how to use IllinoisTollway to monitor any transaction on my account.

by Relic 78

Forgot my transponder so tried to connect the pay by plate to my IPASS account. Been working on this for a half hour. I had to set up a separate account and the tolls still haven’t shown up. I called earlier but I think my call was dropped since I got absolute silence. I will have to try calling again tomorrow, I can only guess that they are closed.

by Will0499

I am curious to know if IllinoisTollway is official from the state of Illinois or is a third party app? I called the IPass customer support number and they said this was third party. Thanks for clarification

by Jaybe81

Please review your app with the latest mobile device software and hardware both phones, tablet, laptop . First glance you’re refresh animation symbol is cut off screen (iPhone 13 Pro Max iOS 15.6.1)

Release schedule should be bi-weekly at worst. It will get better.

by Brandon Galbraith

Solid effort, clean UX. Hopefully more refinement iteration over time. Consider dropping the security question for passkey support. Maybe support providing account info from another toll authority for pay by plate billing instead of credit card for transponder misreads/misses. Looking forward to improved versions!

by Embersoul

I am very pleased with the ladies and gentleman that I spoke with by dialing toll-free number to Illinois tollway system. They were so kind understanding and helped me to get my account set up correctly and reimburse me for late fees. Thank you for your patience and understanding. I am excited to continue traveling to Illinois from Wisconsin and I have peace of mind knowing that my vehicle will be identified and automatic payment set up. Thank you!!

by Daulyp

I wish I had known about IllinoisTollway sooner. The actual website is poorly designed and kind of frustrating but IllinoisTollway does everything perfectly.
**I use an I-Pass** Most of the negative reviews seem to be about the pay by plate system itself or other toll problems which is not IllinoisTollway ’s fault. To be fair, the pay by plate system is garbage. You have to either know exactly which plazas you went through (are you supposed to write them down while driving??) or you have to wait for an invoice with a fine.

by Omfgfuckuassholes

Was struggling to activate my account and add my card. Had to call customer service which helped me activate it but now im stuck on the pay by plate page. No matter how many times i closed IllinoisTollway and uninstalled it, it’s still stuck on that same screen. If i could give it 0 stars I would.

by Rads_84

Simple and easy to use.. nice to finally have an app from Illinois for managing IPass

by Old But Not Deef

Simple, easy to use and understand. We have had iPass since the beginning and have added and removed cars/plate numbers, added rental cars all without a hitch. Having IllinoisTollway adds that extra layer of convenience and communication link without going to the website. I appreciate the effort.

I don’t understand all the 1 stars. I’m giving it 5 stars only because I can’t give it 6! This really can’t get much simpler. But maybe buying rolls of quarters every week is easier!

by FYI Kd7

(Pay by plate)Ok, so at first it’s confusing but it takes 2-3 days for the tolls to be processed and you will get an email saying that the tolls are there and you can put a payment, then I put my payment information and it took 3-4 days to process , ignore if it says it can’t be processed or paid just submit again as long as your card is there and say primary on the card you put and you should be ok. Then it’ll accept payment before 14 days. You will also get a email confirmation stating that your toll has been paid as long as your card says primary and you submit your card you should be ok but do it right as the tolls are up and ready to pay or if you start paying 1-2 days before the 14 days it’ll take 3-4 days to process that payment and it’ll be considered late and you’ll pay a late fee. It was confusing but now I know.

by Tn-John

I live in tn and visit family occasionally up in north il. I set the pay by plate up some time ago. I love the program for none other than i dont have to wait for an invoice to come in the mail. My toll invoices usually show up in 3-4 days. And i get to pat them immediately. The pay by plate is Much better than waiting for invoices that come in the mail because you never know when they are coming. Sometimes a month after i travel. This is a much more efficient way to pay the tolls if your an out if state person and dont want to get a i-pass transponder. 5 stars from me for ease if use. All you have to do is keep your license plate snd vehicle info up to date. And check IllinoisTollway for open invoices and pat them expediently. Love it.