Originally Posted by
axolotl
This is a 7 month old thread.
My only cuota experience was about 8 years ago in the state of Michoacan. A knowledgeable woman in the tourist office in Patzcuaro urged us to ride our bikes on the toll road to Uruapan instead of the old, free road. (BTW, that particular toll road is only a 2-lane road.) She said the old road had more traffic, especially more trucks, more curves, was narrower, and overall was less safe for cyclists, she felt. We took her advice and had no problems at all riding our bikes on it. At the toll plaza, we were told to walk our bikes on the sidewalk so we wouldn't trip the sensors, but otherwise nobody seemed the slightest bit surprised that we were on bikes. We were not asked to pay a toll. A police car passed us while we were riding and ignored us.
You´re right about the date...I sure missed when I responded to ivan, but your info is from over 8 years ago. Many things have changed here. You may or may not get away with it, but if you have an option, don´t take the cuota and don´t plan any in your itinerary. The roads are almost worth the risk because they´re well maintained (hence the tolls), but they´re also very well patroled. I wouldn´t want to get stopped and told to get off the cuota immediately.
Having said that, ask. Hey, it can´t hurt and as unfair as it is, we women still get treated much differently (better) by the authorities.