Free Republic

Among the many trends the pandemic accelerated, one of the least noted has been the increase in so-called cashless toll roads—highways where electronic fee-collection systems have replaced human toll collectors. Now, as traffic returns to pre-pandemic levels, another trend is plaguing these new systems: fare evasion. Around the country, turnpike authorities and bridge and tunnel operators are logging hundreds of millions of dollars in losses as scofflaws find increasingly inventive ways to outfox the systems. Though advocates say that the losses represent a small portion of total revenues, some officials are contemplating raising tolls to account for the shortfalls—in the...

Aug. 19—STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Staten Island resident Brett Roses was confused and concerned when he saw mysterious E-ZPass charges for his green 2002 Acura, a vehicle that has never left Staten Island. According to Streets Blog NYC, after a seemingly endless cycle of disputing E-ZPass charges and getting billed all over again, Roses noticed on a New Jersey Turnpike Authority ticket that the car pinning him with all of these false charges wasn't his at all. It was a white BMW. Roses went to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to clear up any confusion, but found that this...

In an effort to make it easier for customers to pay bills they receive by mail, the Pennsylvania Turnpike is linking with a national network that will accept cash at hundreds of convenience stores, drug stores and other outlets. The turnpike is partnering with the KUBRA Cash Payment Network to allow motorists to pay tolls or other turnpike fees at places such as 7-Eleven, CVS, Dollar General, Family Dollar, Sheetz and Walgreens, among others. The program — which includes a $1.50 surcharge for each transaction — is an attempt to make it easier for customers to pay and reduce the...

HARRISBURG, PA. (JULY 21, 2020) — The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) today approved a six-percent toll increase for all E-ZPass rates systemwide and for PA Turnpike TOLL BY PLATE rates that had been established before last month’s permanent conversion to All-Electronic Tolling (AET) at these locations: Beaver Valley Expressway (I-376); Delaware River Bridge (NJ border); Gateway Toll Plaza (Ohio border); Greensburg Bypass (PA Turnpike 66); Keyser Ave. and Clarkes Summit Tolls (Northeastern Extension); and Southern Beltway (PA Turnpike 576). The increase — slated to take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 3, 2021 — will enable the PTC to continue...

Pennsylvania Turnpike users can expect 6% toll increases in 2020 and 2021 but then — if the state Legislature follows through with plans to change how the state funds public transit — the rate of annual increases gradually will go down to 3% in 2028. Nikolaus Grieshaber, the turnpike’s chief financial officer, outlined the agency’s financial future recently in an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about the 6% toll hike that begins Jan. 5. The increase marks the 12th year in a row that rates have gone up and will increase the fee for a car traveling the length of...

Extending Virginia’s 495 Express Lanes to the Legion Bridge will require widening the Capital Beltway, but would also bring new sidewalks or bike paths in the area between the Dulles Toll Road and the Potomac River. The Virginia Department of Transportation will present preliminary designs for the toll lane extension Monday night. The extension is intended to connect to toll lanes Maryland plans to allow a private company to build over a rehabbed Legion Bridge. Construction on Virginia’s extension could begin late next year and open to traffic in 2023. Maryland has yet to formally select its toll lane designs...

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The head of the Maryland Transportation Authority has abruptly resigned. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that no reason for his departure was publicly released. Kevin C. Reigrut oversaw the state’s eight toll facilities. He led the 1,700-employee agency since January 2017.

Professor of Finance for the College of Staten Island and Research Fellow at The University Transportation Research Center Johnathan Peters says if Connecticut lawmakers are looking to raise revenue for transportation, they might be better off looking somewhere else besides highway tolls. “Tolls, generally, are expensive to collect,” Peters said in an interview. “It’s not free. There’s a lot of technology and a lot of equipment, and that equipment will have to be maintained and replaced over time.” Peters -- whose area of expertise and study involves regional planning and road and mass transit financing -- says tolls are more...

BRISTOL TOWNSHIP >> The long-awaited interchange connecting Interstates 95 and 276 (the PA Turnpike) in Bucks County is officially open. Officials from the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, the Pa. Department of Transportation (PennDOT), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and representatives from ground-transportation agencies in neighboring states gathered on Friday to commemorate completion of major, Stage 1 components of the Turnpike/Interstate 95 Interchange Project. “Motorists who travel in this area have been waiting a long time to realize the benefits this direct link will bring, namely reduced congestion on Bucks County roadways and improved traffic flow in the Philadelphia region and the...

Maryland's stepped-up efforts to collect unpaid tolls are raking in millions of dollars for the state - outpacing the growth in toll revenue itself. State lawmakers and consumer protection groups say the crackdown - which includes referring thousands of delinquent accounts to collections - is punitive and predatory and is pushing Marylanders into debt - and in some cases bankruptcy. Transportation officials say they are only enforcing tolls motorists should be paying anyway - a major shift from years past when the state allowed scofflaws to run up hefty amounts in unpaid tolls and fines without consequences. "Certainly, we want...

Use of the E-ZPass electronic payment system has grown exponentially across the Washington region in recent years as the network of toll lanes has expanded in the Interstate 95 corridor with new facilities from Stafford County to just north of Baltimore. Both Maryland and Virginia are actively promoting E-ZPass, hoping to reduce cash payment at toll plazas — where the option exists — and to encourage the seamless use of all-electronic toll facilities such as the 495 Express Lanes and 66 Express Lanes in Virginia and the Intercounty Connector in Maryland. In that spirit, Maryland announced last week that it...

The Maryland Transportation Authority is exploring phasing out all cash toll booths across the state. Today, tolls are collected three ways: by cash, or electronically, by either an E-ZPass transponder or by video tolling — when the state uses a license-plate photo and mails drivers their bill. Transportation officials say that the transition to all-electronic, high-speed toll collection will: save drivers time on their commute, save the state money, reduce accidents at toll plazas, and reduce CO2 emissions as less fuel is being burned, according to a national study by the University of Central Florida. Drivers in Maryland could start...

GRAND ISLAND, NY - The New York State Thruway Authority announced Wednesday that cashless tolling on Grand Island will be operational the night of Thursday, March 29. For months, there has been construction near the North Grand Island Bridge on the 190 southbound and on the 190 northbound near the South Grand Island Bridge. The actual gantries, which drivers will go under to pay their toll, are being built. Once the system becomes operational, according to the Thruway Authority, drivers for a brief period of time will go through the old toll plazas, which will not be operational and then...

Drivers from northern states that use the E-ZPass system for toll roads will be able to use their passes to drive on some Central Florida toll roads — and get the same discount SunPass users receive.Central Florida drivers, however, will not be able to use their EPasses to pay for tolls if they travel to the 16 E-ZPass states, including New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois and South Carolina.“One of our main objectives is to improve the ease and uninterrupted travel that E-ZPass customers enjoy, and portability to the Sunshine State is certainly a common request,” E-ZPass Group Executive Director P.J. Wilkins...

Outraged Washington, D.C.-area commuters and politicians took to social media Tuesday to blast a new tolling scheme on a busy interstate heading from Virginia into the nation’s capital, as fees along the route peaked to an eye-popping $40 during the morning rush hour. The Interstate-66 tolling plan, which launched Monday, opens up express lanes on the highway in northern Virginia to single drivers, as opposed to just carpoolers. But the sticker shock prices being posted on electronic signs along the roadway led some commuters and residents to give the roadway a new nickname. “This is #highwayrobbery. People are just trying...

WASHINGTON — Drivers on eastbound Interstate 66 saw tolls fluctuate frantically and top out at almost $35 during the Monday morning commute, the first with dynamic tolling on the highway. Rush-hour tolling began at 5:30 a.m. and early morning drivers saw tolls at around $3.50. Within an hour, the tolls had risen to $10 and eventually reached $34.50 at the height of rush-hour. By 9 a.m., prices were back down to below $10, said WTOP’s traffic reporter Dave Dildine, who spent the morning driving on I-66 to report the latest conditions. “It’s going to take some time for us to...

Connecticut abolished tollbooths more than 30 years ago, and every attempt to reinstate them since has been blown out of the water. But that would have to change, says U.S. Rep. John B. Larson, D-1st District, should his proposed underground highway system in Hartford become reality. For the last eight months Larson has talked to nearly every civic group, news editorial board, local business, municipal government, state agency, and federal office, trying to drum up support for his proposed $10 billion “big dig” project. So far, support has been hit or miss for the plan that would sink interstates 84...

Will your E-ZPass allow you to pay a toll in a faraway state, where toll tags are named something else like SunPass or FasTrak? The concept to do that is called "toll interoperability" and it was supposed to go nationwide last October under a federal mandate. That means is Jersey drivers could use their E-ZPass on any toll road or bridge even if it uses a different electronic toll payment system. It would allow different toll systems communicate with each other and properly bill a driver who uses another agency's tag. The idea differs from electronic tolling which bills the...

HARTFORD – Toll talk is back at the State Capitol. Some lawmakers say it will drive billions into the state over the next two decades and others want to put the brakes on the idea.At a hearing, Monday, the proposal to bring electronic tolls to Connecticut highways was discussed, with public comment both for and against it.State accountants said the way Connecticut funds transportation will no longer be sustainable in the next four years and a new revenue source is needed.“This doesn't make any sense at all," State Sen. Toni Boucher said. "This is just another name for another tax...

Josh Kalin drives between Delray Beach and Delaware a couple times a year to visit his son and he has to have a SunPass and an E-ZPass account to pay the tolls. "It's a pain in the neck," said the 80-year-old retired opthalmologist. There's no end in sight. Although Congress required that all state toll systems be compatible by October 2016, the deadline passed and no new target date has been set. "We are unaware of any federal action as a result of the missed [deadline]," said Chad Huff, with Florida Turnpike Enterprise. Florida's SunPass, Georgia's Peach Pass, and North...