File Photo
Comptroller DiNapoli warned that unpaid transactions could rise as cashless tolling expands.
By Forum Staff
The amount of unpaid tolls has risen since the expansion of cashless tolling by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority—and it is likely to increase, according to a recently released audit by State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.
The audit, which covered a period from Jan. 1, 2013 to Aug. 20, 2017, found that TBTA did not maximize toll collection for a variety of reasons, including license plate images that could not be processed and an inability to obtain addresses for some out-of-state drivers, resulting in potential lost revenue of $2.4 million. The lost revenue calculation is a conservative estimate, DiNapoli noted, based on the assumption that all unbilled tolls are cars. The toll for a five-axle tractor trailer is almost five-and-a-half times that of a car.
Prior to 2017, only the Henry Hudson Bridge used electronic tolling as the “Open Road Tolling” system was tested. During 2017, as cashless tolling expanded to all nine TBTA crossings the number of unbilled tolls increased dramatically, according to the audit. In the first eight months of 2017, there were nearly 200,000 unbilled tolls, up from 47,240 in 2016. In monetary terms, in 2016 when the Henry Hudson Bridge was the only facility using cashless tolls, unbilled transactions totaled $259,820. By Aug. 20, 2017, when all of the authority’s crossings had instituted cashless tolling, that number skyrocketed to $1.6 million.
The audit noted that up to six images are captured per vehicle, but only the “best” two are sent for billing review. TBTA provided auditors with details of the unbilled toll transactions from rejected images, which totaled 340,851 from Jan. 1, 2013 through Aug. 20, 2017. These included transactions for the Henry Hudson Bridge and six other TBTA crossings for 2017. Auditors reviewed 61 images and determined four of them were incorrectly rejected and could be used for billing purposes.
Another challenge DiNapoli’s audit identified was the absence of agreements that would allow TBTA to get out-of-state drivers’ addresses for temporary license plates from their state’s Department of Motor Vehicles.
The audit also found that the three law firms hired by TBTA were not effective in collecting from persistent toll violators. As of May 2, 2017, two firms were assigned 241 cases with $5.5 million. Of that amount, $1.9 million was settled for $653,290 with $181,890 collected. The TBTA paid the two firms
$69,027 and stopped sending cases to one of them, citing its lack of responsiveness to its directions. The third firm had one case with a settlement of $438,215 of which $53,182 was collected.
The audit recommended that the TBTA:
• Improve New York Customer Service Center’s access to more image files.
• Regularly review and monitor the rejected image process to ensure rejected images are categorized correctly.
• Require that vendors take action (and document such actions) to obtain temporary license plate registration information from out-of-state DMVs.
• Document the business practice changes as a result of transitioning from outside to in-house counsel, prepare cost-benefit analysis, and establish a completion date for the transition.
DiNapoli noted that while the TBTA agreed with most of the audit recommendations and has taken action to implement some of them. TBTA officials did not agree with the audit’s description of the growth in the number of unbilled tolls after the implementation of Open Road Tolling at all of TBTA’s nine facilities.
