Mobility Authority Implements Habitual Violator Enforcement Program
Mobility Authority Implements Habitual Violator Enforcement Program
Remedies include publishing names of chronic offenders, vehicle registration block, toll road prohibition
(Austin, Texas) – The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (Mobility Authority) is implementing an enforcement program to address habitual non-payment of tolls by chronic violators. The Board of Directors adopted a policy at the September 2018 Board Meeting that encourages equitable payment by toll road users while promoting electronic tag usage. Enforcement remedies under the policy include posting the names of chronic violators on the agency website, blocking vehicle registration renewal, prohibiting habitual violators’ vehicles on Mobility Authority roadways, and on-road enforcement of the vehicle ban.
“We are cracking down on habitual violators,” said Mike Heiligenstein, Executive Director for the Mobility Authority. “It’s important that everyone who chooses to drive the toll roads pay their fair share, so we’re ramping up enforcement measures against the most egregious violators. We’re talking about those with 100 or more unpaid tolls in a one-year period, not drivers who may have missed a toll bill or happen to be a little behind in their payments.”
Texas law defines a habitual violator as a registered owner of a vehicle who has been issued two notices of non-payment for an aggregate of 100 or more unpaid toll charges with a 12-month period. The first notice, or the pre-determination letter, alerts the violator that they have 30 days to contact the Mobility Authority to resolve their outstanding charges. Those who fail to do so will receive a second notice, or determination letter, alerting them of their habitual violator status and warning them that remedies will be pursued against them. They will then have 30 days to request an appeal before being added to the public list of violators on MobilityAuthority.com, having their vehicle registration renewal blocked, and being subject to the vehicle ban on Mobility Authority roadways. Criminal trespassing penalties associated with violating the vehicle prohibition could cost a driver more than $500, including court fees.
Under certain circumstances, the Mobility Authority may arrange payment plans as a courtesy to help customers resolve outstanding charges. Customers are encouraged to contact the Mobility Authority via its payment provider to make payment arrangements at 833-762-8655.
To aid in detecting prohibited vehicles on Mobility Authority roadways, the agency will install automated license plate recognition (ALPR) cameras on its roadways beginning in August 2019. Fixed ALPRs will be installed at the toll gantries and a mobile ALPR will be mounted in law enforcement vehicles. The technology works by taking photos of license plates capturing date, time, and GPS coordinates. The data is sent to the cloud and compared against the agency’s list of prohibited vehicles, and an alert is sent to contracted law enforcement for driver apprehension.
The Mobility Authority’s Habitual Violator Enforcement Program was adopted in conjunction with the agency’s transition to a new Pay By Mail program last fall. The program has evolved to be more user-friendly, offer payment options that better suit customer needs, and offer an enhanced customer experience overall.
“Our goal with this effort is to improve customer service for the law abiding customers that use our roads and pay their bills,” said Heiligenstein. “Encouraging prompt payment ensures fairness for all patrons and prevents non-payment offenders from driving up administrative fees for others.”
The Mobility Authority accepts any of the following tags on its toll roads: the Texas Department of Transportation’s TxTag, the Harris County Toll Road Authority’s EZTag, the North Texas Tollway Authority’s TollTag, the Kansas Turnpike Authority’s KTAG, the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority’s PikePass, as well as Bancpass. The Mobility Authority is also working to achieve interoperability with tolling authorities in Colorado, California, Florida, Georgia, as well as the Carolinas in the near future.
Tag holders not only save time through the automatic payment feature, they pay reduced toll rates across all toll roads in Central Texas.