Thruway Authority fines, suspensions surge since last summer

The New York State Thruway Authority has upped the pressure on delinquent drivers in recent months, raking in $4.5 million since restarting its registration suspension program last summer.

That’s nearly $2 million more than the total tallied in May.

And it comes from nearly 4,000 accounts referred to the state Department of Motor Vehicles for suspension, roughly 100 a week. May’s total stood at 2,400.

The DMV has suspended 1,640 registrations after receiving referrals from the Thruway Authority, more than doubling the 716 total at the end of April, officials say.

Most are drivers who’ve racked up three unpaid violations in five years or large amounts of debt.

The enforcement effort come five years after the Thruway Authority paused registration suspensions following the botched rollout of a cashless tolling system, which replaced toll collectors with license plate readers fixed to overhead gantries.

The system debuted on the Tappan Zee Bridge in 2016.

Drivers who didn’t have E-ZPass were sent bills in the mail. But many tossed them away believing they were junk mail. Fines multiplied quickly for unpaid tolls, leaving drivers with hefty debts.

Fines and suspensions were paused in 2018 while the Thruway went about fixing a broken system. The registration suspension program, scheduled to restart in 2020, was paused when the pandemic hit.

Between 2018 and 2021, the Thruway Authority, which relies on user fees to balance its budget, had $64 million in tolls and fines go unpaid.

And state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli issued a damning audit of the Thruway Authority’s collections system in May.

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Drivers told to pay up or else

Suspensions resumed in July 2022.

Since then 325,000 drivers have been told if they don’t pay soon their registrations could be suspended.

Of those, nearly three quarters owe less than $500 and 91% less than $1,000. A smaller group, made up mostly of commercial business owners, owes $10,000, officials say.

Thruway officials have tried a new approach to get drivers to pay before pursuing registration suspensions.

Fines were reduced from $100 to $50 each billing cycle. After 60 days, drivers with unpaid accounts receive a notice with a $5 fine. If they went another 45 days without paying, they’re fined $50.

The Thruway’s interim executive director, Frank Hoare, said many of the authority’s cashless billing problems are being addressed.

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The Thruway Authority has been encouraging drivers to sign up for E-ZPass, which offers 30% percent discounts on tolls compared to the Tolls by Mail rate. E-ZPass transactions now account for nearly 90% of trips on the Thruway.

And last week, the Thruway Authority announced it had successfully processed one billion cashless toll transactions, bringing in $2.1 billion in revenue.

Some 2,000 cameras are positioned at gantries across the Thruway Authority’s 570 miles of highway.

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“The Thruway Authority is committed to modernizing and investing in our system,” Hoare said in a statement. “Cashless tolling saves time for our motorists, is better for the environment and enhances safety at previously congested toll plazas.”

All this comes as the Thruway Authority looks to increase tolls across the entire system by 5% next year and again in 2027. It’s also seeking 50-cents-a-year increases for the next four years on the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Thruway toll evaders fines surge after registration suspensions resume