After reading recent newspaper reports on the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority’s plans to pay $38 million over the next three years to outsource its violation enforcement system and crack down on toll evaders, I understand how some people might think the plan doesn’t make sense. That’s because news reports have been focused on the estimated $7 million in toll dollars lost annually to scofflaws and not the violation fines the Illinois Tollway intends to collect.
Currently under Illinois law, toll violators are subject to a minimum $20 fine for driving through a toll plaza without paying, regardless of the amount of the toll due. Ignore the fine and the rate increases to $70. Those who rack up five or more unpaid violations risk having license plates or drivers’ licenses suspended by the secretary of state until the fines are paid in full.
The point that the reports omit, and then readers don’t fully understand, is that through the new violation enforcement system contract, we are not billing toll violators to collect the nickels, dimes and quarters they refused to drop in the toll collection baskets. We are billing toll violators to collect those $20 or $70 fines for each unpaid toll.
Look at it this way: If the Illinois Tollway loses $1,000 to scofflaws at a tollbooth charging 40-cent tolls, that equals 2,500 toll violations. If a $20 fine was issued and collected on each violation, the return would be $50,000.
We are confident that the new violation enforcement system will collect enough in fines to recover at minimum the $38 million cost to run the program. In addition, it is important to remember that the new system also will serve as a deterrent to drivers who think they can get away without paying their fair share to drive on the Illinois Tollway’s roads.
