How to use GeauxPass in Louisiana

The big picture: GeauxPass, which doesn't require drivers to stop, is the Louisiana Department of Transportation's solution to long toll lines that can clog highway traffic.

• It's in use along the 19-mile LA 1 expressway that connects Golden Meadow with the coast, and on the Belle Chasse Bridge that spans Highway 23 across the Intracoastal Waterway.

How it works: You don't need to have a GeauxPass account set up before using those roadways.

• The system snaps a picture of your license plate and follows up with you later at your home address, kind of like when you get a camera ticket for speeding or blowing a red light.

Yes, but: If you get that letter, then your bill will have an extra fee attached for the invoice.

• For a recent drive across the Belle Chasse bridge, the $2.64 fee was more than the $2.26 toll.

Be smart: You can avoid that fee by setting up a GeauxPass account in advance.

• It's a fairly quick process online, though it does require an initial $30 account deposit.
• If you don't foresee driving through a GeauxPass location all that frequently, make sure you don't authorize it for auto-replenishment, which will mean regular deposits. Instead, the system will simply deduct the toll when you use the bridge, a DOT spokesman says.

Go deeper: More on how GeauxPass works.