Massachusetts switched over to electronic tolls about a year and a half ago in an effort to ease congestion and save money. While the decision has helped matters, it has also given approximately 1.3 million drivers toll free access to roads and bridges.
The freebies amount to millions of dollars but the Boston Globe reports the electric toll system is actually performing better than expected. The system fails to read approximately two percent of license plates but original estimates predicted a failure rate of between five and seven percent.
While the revenue loss in unfortunate, the state knew no system would be entirely foolproof. As Massachusetts Tolling Director Steve Collins explained, “We went into it knowing there was going to be a certain amount lost.” However, he said the system is doing as well, if not better, than original projections.
Considering the system records about 21.5 million cars every month, it’s actually pretty impressive that only around 85,000 tolls are dismissed each month due to poor pictures of license plates. It also seems that most people are abiding by the rules and not purposely trying to obscure their plates. Instead, most issues seem to be with poorly positioned cameras or license plates that are faded or blocked by objects such as bike racks or trailer hitches.
As with anyone missing out on revenue, the state is looking for ways to maximize how much money is collected. Besides pushing people to use EZ Pass transponders, the state is attempting to identify commercial vehicles whose plates are obscured by examining company logos.
Despite losing millions in uncollected tolls, Massachusetts is apparently better off with the high-tech camera system. Since the state no longer uses so-called “toll plazas,” they’re saving around $5 million every year.
Of course, collecting tolls is another matter as the paper notes the state is owed approximately $37.2 in outstanding fees.
