The “Tollpayer Protection Act” passed both the New York State Senate and Assembly and establishes much needed change to how those who do not use an EZ Pass receive toll bills and any associated late fees and fines.
Moving to the cashless toll system relieved congestion and created smoother, faster driving for the majority of drivers who use EZ Pass. But, for those who used Tolls by Mail there were often long delays in getting bills and sometimes no bills were received at all resulting in inconsistent notification to the user. There have been instances where some drivers had their registrations suspended, been stopped by police, and even had their cars impounded due to unknown fines and penalties from the Toll by Mail system.
Legislators have been trying to fix these issues with NY’s transition to a cashless toll system ever since the system was put in place with little success. The fix has been vetoed three times over the span of two governors – Kathy Hochul and Andrew Cuomo.
In 2022 Gov. Hochul vetoed the proposed changes citing concerns that authorities would have a difficult time collecting legitimate tolls and fines, reducing revenue and potentially affecting bonds already issued that rely on that projected revenue. As part of the proposal Hochul objected to capped late fees, canceled out any bills mailed later than 30 days after the toll was incurred, and created an amnesty program for unpaid bills.
A compromise has now been reached that will provide relief to Toll by Mail users. In this year’s state budget, new rules have been approved and will take effect September 30. The Bridge Authority, the Thruway Authority, and all other toll collecting agencies and authorities must follow the new rules.
New rules require the authority to mail toll bills and violations within 30 days of when they occur and include:
Date, time, location, license plate number, and vehicle registration for each toll
The total amount of the toll due and date the bill must be paid by
Address for receipt of payment and methods of payment for the toll bill
Procedure for contesting any toll or violation
Information related to the failure to timely pay or respond
Website address to access time-stamped photographs of each toll
Any other information required by law or by the authority.
If the bill is not mailed within the 30-day time period, the owner will not be liable for payment of any tolls or fines.