DRJTBC - Toll Violations

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Toll Violations

Introduction

Toll Violations Beginning in early 2010, the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission will remove the gates at its four busiest toll bridges - I-78, Trenton-Morrisville (Route 1), Easton-Phillipsburg (Route 22), and Delaware Water Gap (I-80). When this occurs, the Commission will utilize a new Violation Enforcement System (VES) of high-resolution cameras, specially aimed lights, and a back-office processing operation to identify, track and bill motor vehicles without valid E-ZPass tags that pass through DRJTBC toll plazas without paying the required toll.

The biggest beneficiaries of this new system will be E-ZPass users, since they will no longer need to stop -- although they will need to slow down -- when passing through VES-enabled DRJTBC toll plazas. To acquire a DRJTBC E-ZPass account (discounts are available to frequent DRJTBC toll payers), please go to www.ezpassdrjtbc.com.

The removal of gates and the corresponding conversion of toll facilities is taking place as follows:

I-78 - January 8
Trenton-Morrisville (Route 1) - January 22
Easton-Phillipsburg (Route 22) - April 5
Delaware Water Gap (I-80) - (Postponed until start of lane closures for Express E-ZPass/Open Road Tolling project after Labor Day, 2010)

For more information on the Commission toll-collection modernization efforts, please go to the Electronic Toll Collection System Enhancement Web page in the Commission Projects section on this site or click here.

Under the DRJTBC's new toll-enforcement system, violators are required to pay the required toll. Toll violations fees will be automatically applied for violations occurring on or after February 23, 2010. Violations recorded before February 23 also may be subjected to maximum a $35 fee if the requested toll payment is not made in a timely manner.

(Note: Many other toll agencies use cameras and lights to track toll violators, including the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Turnpikes, the New York Thruway Authority and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Combined with E-ZPass electronic toll collections, the gate-less enforcement systems enable toll agencies to process transactions more efficiently while reducing traffic congestion and high concentrations of vehicle exhaust at toll plazas.)

Processing and fees

Within 60 days after the Commission converts its first two toll plazas (I-78 and Route 1) to VES, the agency's E-ZPass Customer Service and Violation Processing Center operator -- Electronic Transaction Consultants Corporation (ETC) of Richardson, Tx. -- will begin issuing notices to vehicles that were recorded as passing through a toll lane without paying the required toll.

The initial runs of toll-violation notices will be issued in two phases spread over several weeks in February and into March:

First-phase mailings in late February will be issued for toll violations recorded from January 8 through February 22 at I-78 and from January 22 through February 22 at Route 1. These notices will only require owners to pay the toll that had not been paid. A fee, however, may be applied if the vehicle owner fails to make payment by the required deadline stated in a second notice. The maximum fee may be $35 per violation.
Second-phase mailings will commence some time in March and will concern all toll violations recorded at I-78, Route 1 or any other DRJTBC VES-equipped toll plaza on or after February 23. These notices will seek payment of the applicable unpaid toll and charge a $25-per-violation fee in a first notice with a $10 escalator added in a second notice -- for a maximum $35 fee per violation incident.
- (Toll violations that go unpaid by the prescribed second-mailing response deadline will be referred to a collection agency.)
- (A February 22 press release announcing the Commission's toll-violation fees is available for viewing under Current Press Releases in the News and Travel section at this Web site, or by clicking here.

The Commission's toll-violation fee structure mirrors what is charged by other toll-industry agencies nationally and regionally. The Commission's fees are intended to help cover the costs of the toll-violation collection process so that the cost burden does not get shifted onto law-abiding toll payers.

The following sections describe the toll-violation rules and the manner in which violations may be processed or disputed. Contact information and addresses for toll violation system matters are at the end of this page.

Issuance of First Notices

Any vehicle without a valid E-ZPass tag that passes through any DRJTBC toll plaza without paying the required toll will be identified by VES, recorded as a violation and have a notice issued to the offending vehicle's owner. A photograph of the offending vehicle's license plate will be shown on each respective notice.

The first wave of violation notices are anticipated to be issued shortly after the Presidents' Day Weekend in February. The violation notice will consist of the following sections:

An explanation of the cited violation incident.
A payment coupon.
An Advisory and Payment Request Dispute Form.
Violation history.

Violation notices may not be inclusive of all violation events for the identified license plate either prior or subsequent to the dates listed in the notice.

Toll Violations As noted above, violators under the DRJTBC's new toll-enforcement system are required to pay the toll. Toll evasion is a public, strict liability and vicarious liability violation. Therefore, the following are not legal defenses or mitigating factors:

The violation notice wasn't mailed sooner;
The driver did not intend to miss the payment or go through an E-ZPass lane;
Someone else was driving the vehicle.Information on a registered vehicle owner who fails to respond to mailed requests for payment will be forwarded to a collection agency. Under state laws, registered vehicle owners are responsible for any toll violations regardless of who was driving at the time.

An initial violation notice ("first notice") will be mailed to the vehicle owner within 60 days of the alleged violation. This first notice will request payment of the required toll(s). As noted above, violations recorded on or after February 23 will be subjected to an automatic $25 per-violation fee.

A second notice will be issued 21 days after issuance of the first notice.Violations are sent to a collection agency 14 days after issuance of the second notice or if the offending vehicle is tracked to an invalid address.

A sample first notice is available for viewing here (please note that the license of the vehicle shown in this notice has been obscured for privacy-protection reasons).

Payments

A customer who receives a violation notice has three options for making payment:

Mail -- Fill out the coupon attached to the notice and mail it with payment to DRJTBC, P.O. Box 8500-9301, Philadelphia, PA 19178.
Phone -- Call 1-800-872-5061
Online -- www.ezpassdrjtbc.com

License plate, state and notice number are required to complete a payment transaction.

Dispute Process

A customer can dispute violations. License plate, state, and notice number are required. A customer can dispute only the first notice online and the dispute must be processed 21 days after issuance of the first notice.

Customers cited for a toll violation may use a Violation Notice Dispute Form by signing and dating it, and mailing or faxing it along with any required documentation as stated on the form.

Customers also may call the DRJTBC's E-ZPass Customer Service Center at 800-872-5061 (staffed 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday).

To handle a dispute online, please go to www.ezpassdrjtbc.com.

The fax number for sending a completed APR Dispute Form is: 214-615-2392

A blank APR Dispute form is available for viewing by clicking here.|

E-ZPass Customers

If an imaged license plate for a violating vehicle can be matched to a DRJTBC E-ZPass account, the incident will be posted as a Video Toll or "VToll." The Commission will attempt to collect this toll electronically, as long as the account is in good standing or restored to good standing. The account must have been opened before or at the time of the violation.

If the Commission is unsuccessful in collecting the "VToll", a first notice will be sent to the E-ZPass account holder. A second "VToll" collection attempt will occur prior to issuance of a second notice. E-ZPass customers may update their accounts during the violation payment process.

A copy of the Commission's E-ZPass Customer Agreement Terms and Conditions is available for viewing by clicking here.

Contacts/Mailing Addresses

Toll Violations Customer Service Center/Violation Processing Center Toll-Free Number -- 1-800-872-5061