The queue to pay has often seemed a truly dreary prospect. Those of us who have more or less sailed through toll plazas in France, Italy and Spain, have often sat in long traffic lines, waiting to pay at Dublin's West Link bridge on the M50.
There's the thought that we are supposed to be paying for a convenience but all we are getting is inconvenience.
But help is at hand. More and more motorists using the M50 regularly now travel with Eazy Pass. For the uninitiated, it's a tag that is fitted to the windscreen. The driver slows down approaching the barrier, there will be a green light, the barrier then lifts and the toll is automatically deducted. When a tag holder's balance gets low, an amber light appears as he or she passes through the toll.
This is an indication that it's time to top up the account.
Aidan Foley for Eazy Pass, which is part of the National Toll Roads set-up, says that over 27,000 customers now use Eazy Pass to pay their tolls on a daily basis at the East and West Link bridges. That's about one quarter of daily traffic.
"As for the queues at West Link, we would say it has cut them by 50 per cent. With the electronic toll, you can take 1,000 vehicles an hour. With drivers paying manually, it's down to 500 an hour."
When the second bridge across the Liffey is operational next year, there will obviously be a tangible benefit. Mr Foley envisages 16 to 18 booths with at least four for dedicated Eazy Pass customers only.
"A dedicated lane has just opened at the present West Link site which is part of our strategy to have 40,000 tags in use over the next couple of years, giving us a 30 per cent penetration of daily traffic."
From August, customers will be able to sign up online for the Eazy Pass service. They can also check their account transactions online at www.eazypass.ie
The next tolling operation will be for the new bridge across the Boyne at Drogheda, part of the M1 between Dublin and Dundalk. Mr Foley says they are seeking the franchise here: "Again, Eazy Pass would be a major part of the facility if we are successful."