Queensland GOVIA E-tag

Thanks Mr Bitchie,
A warning for travellers here - you could wait a long time to get your tag !. I leave shortly for Queensland, NSW & Victoria and want to be able to use the tag down south as well as Brisbane.

KK

I live in SA but regulalry travel to Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney for work. The simplest to get was a CityLink tag from Victoria which works in all 3 cities.

They had no issue giving one to an out of state vehicle.

Regards

Pete

Thanks Peter,

No problem with them issuing a tag for an out of state vehicle - just their delivery time lag certainly isn't good service. I tried paying by telephone last time I was in Brisbane but their computer system could not handle a WA plate number !

KK

CityLink in Victoria recently replaced an eTag in 2 days after I left it in a hire car then refunded the cost when I sent back the one Avis returned. They were very helpful.

Pete

Kiwi you can still travel without the tag.. they will just take a photo of your rego plate and match it to your account. But be aware that for rego plate matching they will charge an extra .40 cents. Your tag can be used Aus Wide on any toll road, including the new Clem tunnel in Brissie.

If you are that concerned about not having the tag before you leave you can go to the Gateway Or Staplyton Rd service centres to collect one.

Thanks Jo,

Other then an extra 40 cents deduction from your account each time you pass a camera station is there any real need to actually have your tag in the vehicle ?

KK

Nah mate... as long as they have your correct rego number and the rego number of any other car you may use the tag in, and of your camper trailer or anything you may tow with your vehicle, there is no need to have the transponder in your vehicle if you don't mind paying an extra .40 cents per toll point for video recognition. (Ex toll collector talking here). You are not charged extra for towing a trailer or camper with a car but if they do not have that rego number, and you go through a toll point and it cannot see your car rego plate and takes a photo of your trailer then you may, I say may, cop a nice little notice in the mail for a fine because they have no way to recognize that the trailer rego belongs to you.

Jo, does that also apply for interstate tolls?

Thanks Jo

KK

The GoVia computer system is now linked up with Queensland Transport so if worse comes to worse for them and they cannot recognize your trailer rego, Then they would get your particulars off the transport Dept to send you the fine... they will not deduct the fee off your account. That would be too easy for them.
Interstate tolls John, to my knowledge they will still charge you a 40 cent video recognition fee which is deducted off your credit.
Also, I have said it before not long after going free flow but for the benefit of those who don't know...

If you have automatic top up via your credit card, once your credit gets to $15.00 (I have heard that it is now $10) but either way... once your credit gets low they will automatically debit your credit card to top up your account with the amount you nominated...
Be aware that as having automatic top up, that because it is topping up when credit gets to $15 bucks (or $10).. that they will always have 15 or 10 bucks of YOUR money that you will never see again. It mighten seem like much but when you add up just how many people have auto top ups, that is a @#$% load of profit they are making off YOUR money and you get none of it.

If you are real pedantic about it all, nominate for you to do top up yourself.
You nominate what you want your balance to be when you are to receive an email notification of your credit running low, then go into your govia account online with your account number and top it up yourself with your credit card. Top ups will not always show up on your account immediately.

Having the inside information that is the only way mine is topped up... they kicked me out of a job, buggered if they are going to get a cent out of me for them to make a profit!!

And please note... if the customer service operator does not know all the answers... they will either do the right thing and ask someone who does.... or lie to you! Don't all government and privatised agencies do that!

Jo,

Maintain the rage LOL. Thanks for the info.

Regards

HAHAHA!!!!!! good one Gramps!!!!!!!!

I purchased a GoVia tag today and was able to nominate the amounts at which the warning signal and top up occur, plus the amount of the top up that I wanted to put on the credit card. I remember some uproar over the top up amounts a few months ago- it seems these settings may have changed since?

If you have a tag it reads it from the front doesnt it.

If so its immaterial what you are towing.

It would only if you go through with no tag take a pic of your rear to grab you.

I went through today with a different van to what I had when i last went through a year ago and it beeped as I came up to it.

Then I went to Caboolture RTA and changed the WA rego to QLD so will thoroughly confuse it I would think..

LOL

No it isn't immaterial Graham as I am talking about when you do not have your tag in the vehicle with you. The cameras are set to take front and/or rear photographs.. And also be aware that there are speed cameras on the gantry's so we were told when they had to do presentations to us before jobs goneski.

Of course the tag would beep as you went through today in another vehicle. You can transfer your tag from vehicle to vehicle... that is not a problem, but you gotta make sure that they have the rego numbers for all vehicles that the tag may be used in. If you go through without a tag and in a vehicle that does not have a rego plate registered with them then you will receive a a fine from them...at some point...

My point of making sure your trailer regos are listed with them is because there have been people who have received notices in the mail because the cameras captured their tralier rego and not the rego off the car. Even with having a tag.

At the end of the day, I say to have all your regos with them to save mess ups and confusion for the owner of the vehicles and eventually everyone will get how it works. I reckon all this needs to be stickied at the top of the thread listings... Cause you know damn well in two weeks time someone else is going to ask another question about it...

:)

Yes you are correct Amy... but read what I wrote about the automatic top ups off credit cards...

Thanks Jo, I didn't try it with less than $10 before the automatic top-up- perhaps it would have stopped me if I did- I thought they may have relaxed the rules a little but maybe not!

Thanks Neil, I will have to check with my 'garage' address in WA :-))

KK