Yesterday I had to drive up to Santa Monica, a drive that could range anywhere from about 2 hours 15 minutes to 3 hours 10 minutes according to Google Maps. Google Maps said to take state route 73 which is a toll road for part of the way. I usually avoid toll roads because of the cost, but decided that if I could stay out of some traffic and shave some time off my drive, it was worth it. It cost me $4.25 each way (I went at off peak hours; peak is $5 each way) and it is definitely something I’ll use in the future if I have to go up that way again. While it may sound like a lot of money, the drive is extremely pleasant (it is very under utilized) and scenic (if you can call driving through Orange County scenic). I always thought toll roads were a bad thing because I’m used to east coast toll roads where you pay a fortune and they carry a fair amount of traffic; toll roads around here seem to be avoided even though time really is money!

The only thing I’d do different if I drive up there more often is I’ll get a FasTrak transponder to save $0.75 each way and save time by not having to slow down. I’d basically have to drive the toll road once a month to make FasTrak viable as they charge $1 per month to have the transponder.