The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission reported over $104 million in uncollected tolls as the agency switched to an all-electronic tolling system, originally intending to make it easier to collect the fees.
Drivers who are not enrolled in the E-Z Pass program had a nearly 1 in 2 chance of not being charged for their ride, generating no income for the turnpike.
“We take this issue very seriously. It is a big number — there’s no question,” Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission CEO Mark Compton told the Associated Press. “But we, as an organization, are leaving no stone unturned in the way in which we’re going after that leakage.”
PENNSYLVANIA TURNPIKE TOLLS RISE AMID BLEAK REVENUE PROJECTIONS
The money is an especially troubling issue for the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which sends half of the money earned into borrowing costs. The toll price also quadrupled on the turnpike for drivers who do not have an E-Z Pass.
License plates could not be identified in 1.8 million Pennsylvania Turnpike rides last year, bills were not delivered in over 1 million cases, and motor vehicle agencies failed to provide the addresses of vehicle owners more than 1.5 million times. An additional 6.7 million transactions were marked as “not paid.”
There are many different reasons the fees were not paid, including faulty equipment, failure of the camera systems to capture a plate number correctly, or an inability to pursue out-of-state drivers.
In the cases in which the driver does not have a pass, the camera is supposed to snap a picture of the license plate. Workers then find the name of the driver and the car and send the bill to the address associated with the car. However, the Associated Press reported that in July, nearly half of the failed license plate photos were because the plate was not in the frame, and 41% of the failed images were because of an obstruction in the frame, such as a bike rack. In 1.1%, the plate was purposely blocked.
If a bill reaches someone and it goes unpaid, drivers in Pennsylvania are at risk of their car’s registration being suspended. There are 10,000 cases of such suspensions, which only occur if there are more than six violations or a driver has defaulted on a payment plan or owes at least $500 in unpaid tickets. Additionally, the agency has asked county district attorneys to charge people with “theft of services” if they owe over $2,000.
Another issue the turnpike faces is out-of-state drivers, for whom it has limited options to pursue, although 49 out of the 50 states allow access to their vehicle registration databases, with Iowa being the exception. However, Pennsylvania cannot suspend the car registration of drivers from other states. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission said it is discussing that option with Delaware and New York.
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Pennsylvania Transportation Secretary Yassmin Gramian said it would be beneficial to get the federal government involved in tolling state drivers.
“Uniformity at the federal level would certainly be helpful in this area, and reciprocity between states is an ongoing conversation among tolling agencies nationwide,” Gramian said.
Despite the clear issues in receiving the funds from the toll roads, there are advantages to having an all-electronic system. Supporters boast that it improves immediate traffic flow, curbs pollution, and requires less maintenance than the cash-accepting toll booths.
