In Italy all the autobahns are toll roads. The network is divided up into different company areas, some small, some big.

When you join the Autobahn there is a large covered area with toll booths. You drive to one, usually the one with a car sign, and get a ticket from the machine, sometimes it pops out and is ready to take, and sometimes you have to press a button. You can do all this without leaving your seat. !! DO NOT LOOSE THIS TICKET !!

You might drive hundreds of kilometers and stop several times at service areas, but you must keep the ticket with you.

When you change from one company area to another there will be pay toll booths, (and later ticket issuing booths). When you leave the autobahn there will be several pay booths. There are 3 ways of paying for your trip on this stretch of the autobahn, cash, credit card, wireless accounting.

1. When you approach the booths look at the signs above the road lanes, look for money signs and pay cash, there will be a human operator, and a display to tell you how much they want.

2. When you pay with a credit card, using a standard card Visa or Mastercard, there will be signs & pictures above the lane taking credit cards. You approach the toll booth for cars and the machine is on the left of your window. You put the autobahn ticket into the machine and a display shows how much is required. You then put your credit card into the same slot where you saw your ticket dissappearing! Very quickly your card is returned, the barrier goes up and a lady says "Arriever dertchy" There is always a human operator around watching the TV monitors, so if you have problems get out of the car and wait.
DO NOT DRIVE THROUGH THE BARRIER UNTIL YOU ARE SATISFIED otherwise stay near the car.

3. The third way is for commercial drivers who have a radio transponder, which records them passing through the booth. The lane is usually on the right hand end of the booths, DO NOT USE THIS LANE, KEEP AWAY! (I think it is called telemach or something, not sure) the trucks barely slow down, so be carefull!

It is quite worrying for the first few times, try not to collide with all the barriers, and try to choose the correct lane. If in doubt aim for the middle or the left side of the row of booths, be careful of people suddenly changing lanes, so drive slowly!

In the old days the police used to inspect your tickets, and if you had gone from A to B in too short a time, you got a speeding ticket.