Posted on 11/20/2012 1:06:40 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Nearly one in three motorists who use the Intercounty Connector without an E-ZPass transponder don’t pay the toll later, making Maryland’s newest and most expensive highway home to a toll violation rate four times higher than the state average.
Individual motorists racked up as much as $1,418 each in unpaid tolls after driving on the ICC, or Route 200, as many as 430 times during the first six months of this year. A rental car company owed $4,263 in ICC toll debt, while a construction company accrued $2,241 for 65 unpaid trips during that time.
The new 18.8-mile highway between Gaithersburg and Laurel has added quickly — and relatively significantly — to the state’s toll losses. The ICC accounts for 5 percent of the state’s toll revenue. However, the nearly $670,000 in unpaid tolls between January and June amounted to almost 30 percent of all tolls that went uncollected statewide during that time, according to figures obtained from the Maryland Transportation Authority.
The ICC’s problem is twofold: As an all-electronic road with no toll booths, the ICC can charge tolls only by deducting them from E-ZPass transponders or by mailing a photo of the vehicle tag along with an invoice for a higher “video toll” to the vehicle’s registered owner. However, Maryland’s tolling authority doesn’t use the kinds of enforcement measures — vehicle registration suspensions and court referrals — that tolling experts say are the most effective in getting people to pay the mailed bills.
State Sen. Catherine E. Pugh (D-Baltimore), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee’s transportation subcommittee, said she plans to hold a hearing early next year on the state’s toll collection methods.
“We can’t afford to leave money on the table,” Pugh said. “The ICC was a very expensive road to build.”
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
This would be a good way to get Obama supporters off the roads impound their cars for not paying their fare share of the toll which they probably voted for. And if they still don't pay chop off their hands for stealing just like they do in Muslim countries after all isn't that what they want to become of the US.
Hey, that's a great pun, "fare share". I like it.
Not to worry, we’ll soon have all of that casino money pouring in.
Hmmmm. I wonder why? A great majority of it went over existing farm land.
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