New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced this week that on Wednesday, January 11, it stopped a total of 21 persistent toll violators. In all, the authority said that the offenders’ violations amounted to more than $400,000 in unpaid tolls and fees.
Among those who were stopped and had their vehicles towed by the MTA was the driver of a Mazda CX-5 who had $57,000 worth of unpaid tolls. The owner of the vehicle had more than 500 violations dating back to May 2021.
“He said he wasn’t aware he owed any tolls. I went inside the glove compartment and there were a bunch of orange envelopes with the notices inside,” David Rivera, a Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA) officer, told the NY Post. Another 30 year-old driver who was behind the wheel of a Ford Mustang, “got his father on the phone, and he was crying, and then he handed me the phone and said, ‘Here, talk to my father,’ Rivera told the outlet. “I just explained to his father that the car was unregistered, and we were taking it in.”
Read: Chicago Drivers Face Over $56,000 In Penalties And Fees After City Tows 242 Vehicles In One Night
Of the 21 offenders who were caught on Wednesday, 17 were stopped on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. That, says the MTA, is a record for stops at a single facility in one day. In addition, officers issued 28 summonses on Wednesday.
Officials say they used the same technology that allows for cashless tolling to catch these evaders. Already equipped with cameras and license plate scanners, the technology can be easily used to flag persistent toll evaders.
“I don’t think the public realizes the technology we have today,” TBTA Officer Reginald Lede said. “Within one or two seconds of passing through the gantry, we’re notified in the car that this plate is on the bridge, a known toll violator. The gantry notifies us instantly.”
After the drivers were stopped, their vehicles were towed, and MTA officers dropped them off at home or at the train station. The vehicles will be held by the authority until the fees are paid, in addition to a $100 fine for frequent violators who have three or more unpaid tolls in a five-year period.
Over the course of 2022, the MTA says its officers remanded a total of 1,784 vehicles for unpaid tolls. The organization says that it loses $50 million per year to toll evasion, but makes about 40 percent of that back through stops such as these.
