Congestion pricing toll camera in Manhattan near the Brooklyn Bridge.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
March means budget season in Albany, and this year the MTA is hitting the road in support of legislation that would reinforce ongoing efforts to crack down on toll evasion.
Toll-dodging drivers rip off the MTA (and their fellow New Yorkers) to the tune of $50 million a year – money that could be invested into modernizing our bridges and tunnels and the entire transit system. We’re not letting that stand.
Two years ago this month, we launched a multi-agency task force with 12 law enforcement partners including the NYPD, NYS Police, and NYC Sheriff’s Office. Together we’ve recovered more than $60 million in unpaid tolls and fees and towed more than 6,000 vehicles across 124 enforcement operations. Good progress, but we can do even more to recover public money.
The bill currently working its way through the Legislature, which I’ll point out has bipartisan support, would deliver tools we need to more forcefully address the two most common forms of toll evasion: drivers who purposely cover or obscure their license plates and those who receive their bills but refuse to pay, otherwise known as Persistent Toll Violators (PTVs).
The sections of the bill targeting use of so-called ghost plates would allow police to confiscate illegal plate coverings on the spot and add points to the scofflaw’s driving record after three convictions for obscuring a license plate within five years.
This is also important for safety reasons. According to the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, many of the City’s worst “super-speeders” use ghost plates to repeatedly evade cameras and drive dangerously with impunity.
The toll evasion bill also seeks to reduce lost revenue from PTVs by:
- Giving MTA PD and MTA Bridges and Tunnels officers the authority to enforce judgments, not just the NYC Sheriff;
- Reclassifying toll evasion as a more serious ‘theft of service’ Class A misdemeanor charge;
- Closing procedural loopholes that have allowed drivers to avoid penalties by re-registering their cars under a new driver, often a friend or relative.
I want to be clear – we are not targeting everyday drivers who accidentally overlook a toll bill or those who simply can’t afford to pay. The MTA works closely with those customers to resolve their issues.
This is about fairness. It’s not right when drivers – sometimes rolling around in Mercedes-Benzes and Porsches – use bridges and tunnels and skip out on paying their fair share. Just like with subway and bus fare evasion, it can make the folks who follow the rules, the vast majority, feel like suckers.
We can’t – won’t – allow that to continue.
