MTA ramps up action against toll evaders, calling out NJ drivers who use fake plates

With a backdrop of seized Range Rovers and Mercedes, Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials warned drivers — calling out New Jersey motorists in particular — about the punishments that will follow toll evaders.

The warning comes as a congestion pricing toll looms next spring, when passenger vehicles may face an additional charge of $15 to enter Manhattan below 60th Street. That means people driving from New Jersey could spend about $30 to take the Lincoln or Holland tunnel and drive into midtown Manhattan, before parking.

Janno Lieber, who heads the MTA, said Friday that the agency’s bridges and tunnels team has upped enforcement this year, surpassing the number of vehicles impounded last year.

Story continues below photo gallery.

“This is about fundamental fairness. It’s not right when drivers, some drivers rolling around in Mercedes and Porsches, come onto our bridges and through tunnels and skip out on paying thousands and thousands of dollars in tolls,” Lieber said.

He said that by July, the bridges and tunnels team led by Chief Richard Hildebrand already had surpassed the total number of vehicles seized in all of 2022.

"Now they’re capping off this year with a major blitz,” Lieber said.

Officers seized 44 vehicles registered to persistent toll violators at the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge from Dec. 12 through 15. The scofflaws accounted for about $922,500 in unpaid tolls and fees. One of the top persistent toll violators from this targeted enforcement owed over $52,000 in tolls and fees.

Between Jan. 1 and Dec. 13, 2023, bridge and tunnel officers intercepted 2,705 vehicles — a 50% increase from the same time in 2022 and surpassing the total of 1,880 vehicles that were interdicted in all of 2022.

Bridge and tunnel officers have also issued 2,933 summonses for covered or obstructed license plates since the beginning of the year.

The MTA collects about $2.4 billion in tolls annually, accounting for 13% of operating budget revenue.

If you use fake plates, 'you're going to get busted'

Lieber also hoisted up fake license plates that have been recovered from seized vehicles, a tactic that could result in arrest.

“These bogus plates are sometimes from Georgia, some of them are from Florida … and wow, some of them are from New Jersey, the guys who don’t want to pay congestion pricing,” Lieber said.

He later walked this back a bit, saying, “Our neighbors in New Jersey, most of them — the vast, vast majority — are people who play by the rules and are very much part of this community, but I just want to remind folks, if you try with the fake plates, you’re going to get busted.”

More: Angry at the Manhattan congestion pricing toll? You'll get a chance to tell the MTA that

More: NJ's pols scoff at NY congestion pricing plan — but Jersey may actually benefit | Stile

While there has been significant outcry from the Garden State over congestion pricing — including lawsuits filed by Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration and Bergen County officials over the matter — there is also some support coming from New Jerseyans.

Thirty-four New Jersey environmental, labor, public health and community groups filed an amicus brief with the court Friday to show their support for congestion pricing as an environmental win for the state.

Suits over toll errors

The MTA, New Jersey Turnpike Authority, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and New York Thruway Authority all use the Florham Park-based company Conduent to handle toll transactions, including tracking tolls, violations and fees and informing customers about how much money they owe.

The company has come under intense scrutiny over the years, with lawsuits filed across the country over billing issues and fees. Droves of customers, including New Jersey Sen. Declan O’Scanlon, have complained about not being able to reach Conduent's customer service department to discuss toll issues and errors.

Asked whether the MTA is also making investments in improving customer service, the agency did not immediately respond. Unlike New Jersey, the MTA does have a toll payer advocate office that can help resolve customer problems.

The MTA has recovered more than 98% of tolls owed by recidivist toll violators since the inception of its DMV Registration Suspension Program, according to the agency.

Cracking down on scofflaws, Lieber said, is also about revenue.

“We go chase down toll evaders — it is very much a profit center for us to make sure that people pay their tolls,” he said.

“Everybody needs to know that the other guy is paying and it’s not only them … being forced to pay more to subsidize the guys who cheat," he said. "It’s a fairness issue in addition to a revenue issue.”

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: MTA ramps up vehicle seizures of bridge, tunnel toll evaders