Posted on 08/20/2016 4:10:22 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
HARRISBURG — Motorists blow past Pennsylvania Turnpike toll booths every year, resulting in millions of dollars of losses.
The agency that manages more than 500 miles of highway is supporting legislation to punish those scofflaws.
A bill pending in the state Senate would “give us the hammer we need to go after habitual toll cheats,” Turnpike Commission Chairman Sean Logan said. “This measure would ensure that everyone pays their fair share. There are no free rides.”
The bill by Senate Transportation Chairman John Rafferty, R-Montgomery County, and Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills, would allow PennDOT to suspend the registrations of motorists until they pay.
“We're giving the turnpike the teeth to collect like other states have done,” Rafferty said.
Maryland, Texas and New York have moved to punish scofflaws, according to the Turnpike Commission and news accounts. An exact count of states taking such steps wasn't available from the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Pennsylvania has shown no interest in publishing the names of scofflaws, as some states have done, an agency spokesman said.
In 2015-16, Pennsylvania wrote off more than $5.4 million in losses from drivers who refused to pay after receiving first and second warnings, agency figures show.
That can't be ignored for an agency with $7 billion in debt, Rafferty said.
“Toll revenues are vital so the turnpike can continue to improve and expand our aging toll-road system and provide supplemental funding to PennDOT, which helps public-transit agencies keep fares reasonable for riders across the state,” said Logan, a former Democratic senator from Plum.
Unpaid toll losses skyrocketed by 45.34 percent from 2014-15 to fiscal year 2016, agency figures show.
“It is because we did see both traffic and revenue increases,” including a new E-ZPass-only interchange in the Poconos, said Carl DeFebo, a turnpike spokesman.
The violations typically occur at E-ZPass exits.
The turnpike identifies violators using license plate photographs.
Uncollected tolls totaled $43.2 million by the end of the fiscal year, DeFebo said, but the vast majority of drivers paid what they owed.
The violators often are people without E-ZPass transponders who say their GPS sent them to exits without cash-only lanes, according to DeFebo.
The Senate Transportation Committee approved the Rafferty-Costa bill. It now is parked in the Appropriations Committee.
Rafferty said he's hoping for a full Senate vote when the General Assembly returns to session in September.
Union run. A few years ago, I read that there is one supervisor for every 5 workers. All they do is sit there and make change or watch people go through EZ pass. Then score a pension.
In 2015-16, Pennsylvania wrote off more than $5.4 million in losses from drivers who refused to pay after receiving first and second warnings, agency figures show.
I think some states tie your registration or driver’s license renewals in with unpaid fines, and compel you to pay the fines before you can renew. PA could look into that.
And I’ve heard some states refer these unpaid fines to collection agencies. It’s hard to believe the state just “writes off” these unpaid fines; that drivers refuse to pay and that’s it.
Try doing that with your income taxes and see what happens. I have to believe that some relatively easy enforcement efforts would result in collections.
They need to get with the 21st century. The toll roads around here don’t take cash. No toll tag or EZpass? Pay online, pay by mail, or face the consequences. And the tolls are almost twice as high.
Spread the toll money around...
In California the biggest cheats are the LEOs and their families because their vehicle registrations are hidden by law (to protect them against retribution)
The article says the system has $7 billion in debt, how crazy is that???? The unpaid tolls should be collected, but obviously $5 million per year is only drops in the bucket in a system running BILLIONS in the red.
That’s because they have to pay for the fancy fake rock 20’ walls they build for miles.
“They can take ALL the money, and it still will not be enough for government to spend.
Maybe they could get Chuck Norris to do an infomercial or something.
I used as much turnpike in Oklahoma as I did in Pennsylvania on my vacation this summer and paid three times as much per mile in PA than in OK.
Its corrupt to the hilt as evidenced by corruption cases involving turnpike officials over the years here in my home state of PA.
John Raffety, the Republican co-author of this ‘toll cheat’ legislation to put more money into the turnpike system, happens to be the Republican candidate for Attorney General of this state.
Well, Kathleen Kane was bad and corrupt. This guy is no doubt another business as usual politician in his own right.
Also, did we not just have a stimulus that should have fixed all the roads and bridges in America?
They should put the information into a computer system available on-line at the toll road. If an offender comes through a highway patrolman would be dispatched to pull over the offender. Once stopped the driver and occupants would be required to exit the vehicle and verify the outstanding fees. The car would be towed to the nearest salvage yard and crushed. Just a few instances and word of mouth would take care of the problem.
Article states that much of the funding goes to mass transit systems in the state to keep fares low.
They’re currently approaching $1 billion a year in toll collections due to increasing ridership (thanks, low oil prices). That $5 million is just what they wrote off for one year.
I don't know what became of the issue but I'm sure that he didn't invent theft there, so how do you think the toll takers cover for all that theft?
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