Admit it. You’ve driven through a toll lane without
paying. I’ve done it, so have thousands of others and I didn’t
think much of it, until now.
Motorists find themselves in this predicament every
day—to pay or not to pay. The majority of the drivers do pay simply
because it’s the law. A select few choose not to pay, while others find
themselves unable to pay because they aren’t carrying any money or
can’t scrape up enough change.
The motorists who willingly choose not to pay their tolls on
the Illinois Toll System have taken advantage of the system for years. The
Illinois State Toll Authority lost $7 million in 2001 alone to toll violators
who drove through unsupervised I-PASS lanes or through opened gates. According
to a recent report in the Chicago Tribune, there were 17.5 million violations
last year. But what is even more striking is that the Illinois Toll Authority
sent out only 3,905 notices to the offenders—2.2% of the total
violations.
If your company lost $7 million dollars last year and you
had the ability to retrieve this money—and more in additional
fines—would you not put forth more than 2.2% of your effort to get your
money back?
Meanwhile, toll violators on the New Jersey Turnpike have
fines accrued in the neighborhood of $13 million between 1999 and 2001. In this
instance, violation notices were in fact sent, but they were sent to drivers
who received fines for violations they didn’t incur, prompting them to
demand their fines be reversed. It has been reported that the state of New Jersey
spent $33 million adjudicating violation claims that were erroneously
sent—$19 million more than the amount accumulated from the violations.
How did these two toll agencies find themselves in these
situations? On the surface, it appears that each has the capacity to
effectively combat toll violators. Yet one elected not to, and the
other’s efforts were self-depreciating.
Millions of dollars have been poured into the toll systems
to purchase equipment whose sole purpose is to combat toll violators and help
secure additional revenue from the violations. Why did it take so long, and so
many millions of dollars, for these agencies to realize their efforts were
ineffective?
Statements from toll officials in the respective authorities
cited persistent glitches, numerous technical problems and a small staff
reviewing tapes as the reasons for the preceding ineptitude.
At long last, both agencies have initiated stopgaps in the
form of contracts to outside agencies whose sole responsibility is to combat
past, present and future violations.
Despite their past problems, I remain optimistic that the
agencies’ belated efforts will eventually nudge them closer to
profitability.
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