ORLANDO, Fla. — Spring Breakers are cramming into Florida beaches, theme parks and roads. But when some get home, they’re left with some not-so-sunny reminders of their trip, especially if they drove a rental car on some of the state's toll roads.

“Never feels great to come back from a vacation with a toll bill,” said Ken Brandon, who recently visited Orlando with his wife, Naomi.

Brandon said he has been hit by toll fines from car rental companies previously — but coming to Orlando, he didn’t want to sign up for the car rental’s expensive add-on to use on toll roads.

Instead, he opted for a Visitor Toll Pass, which allowed him to pay the same toll rate that locals pay.

“I like the aspect you only pay for what you use,” said Brandon, who was visiting from Maryland. “Usually, rental cars (companies) will charge you whether you use it or not."

The Central Florida Expressway Authority started the project after hearing from visitors who were complaining about the big bill from car rental companies they received once they got home, Communications Manager Brian Hutchings said.

“(Visitors) approached Mayor (Buddy) Dyer, complained, said, ‘We had a wonderful time, but we ended up having a sour taste in our mouth because we got hit with all these excessive fees from tolls.’" Hutchings said. "So Mayor Dyer approached us, and from there, we created the Visitor Toll Pass program."

The Visitor Toll Pass is the only one of its kind in the world, and it’s now trademarked, he said.

Since it officially launched at Orlando International Airport in June 2021, more than 66,000 people have used it.

"It's tremendously popular for folks that really don’t want to get hit with those very expensive rental-car toll-paying fees and penalties," Hutchings said.

He said about one-third of the people who use the Visitor Toll Pass are from overseas.

To use the pass, visitors need to download the app to enter their rental car information. Then they can pick up a Visitor Toll Pass at the kiosk, located next to the rental car companies in Terminal A at Orlando International Airport.

Currently, it’s only available in Terminal A, but the expressway authority is working to add kiosks in Terminals B and C at Orlando International Airport.