By Shelley Kofler, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-986071.mp3
Dallas, TX – The North Texas Tollway Authority says it may have to adopt some new techniques to convince drivers to pay their toll bills. KERA's Shelley Kofler has more.
The North Texas Tollway Authority, the NTTA, estimate that next year some 3 percent of its tolls and fines will go uncollected because drivers using the new automated system don't have electronic toll tags and repeatedly ignore bills sent to their homes.
That lost revenue will add up to $13 million dollars. NTTA Board member Kenneth Barr from Fort Worth says it's money the agency can't ignore.
Barr: NTTA is going to have to get more aggressive in order to be fair to those who do pay us and to collect the money we need to run the system.
Right now the NTTA has only one remedy for collecting unpaid tolls. It can levy fines, what it calls administrative fees. But in the recent legislative session state lawmakers capped some of those fees after motorists complained of being fined hundreds of dollars for less than $20 in tolls.
So now the NTTA is looking at options which include impounding vehicles that travel toll roads after owners repeatedly refuse to pay; placing liens on the property of offenders; or going after a driver's vehicle registration or driver's license.
Barr: Probably the best hammer for back of a better term is to tell people if you don't pay your tolls you're going to have a problem when you go to renew the license on your vehicle. I think that's a pretty significant hammer.
NTTA's Assistant Executive Director for Operations Clayton Howe is also recommending the agency publish the names and photos of top offenders in the media. Howe says NTTA has tried it before and learned publicly embarrassing drivers works.
Howe: We got more response from people who owed us tolls that week than we've had any week since I've been here in the past 10 years. No one wants to be on the list so they want to make sure when they see the list they aren't next.
Some of the options still need legal vetting or legislative approval and they would only apply to drivers who've ignored payment notices for more that 90 days.
NTTA board members say it will be months before they adopt anything, but they seem committed to more aggressive penalties that will convince toll road scofflaws to pay up.