Trenches of Democracy

The Daily Herald says Fix The Toll Collection System — NOW.

Tags: Daily Herald, Illinois Tollway Authority

I-Pass: Fresh Revenue Strategies with Electronic Tolling

Leslie Boudreau was billed $4,619 by the Illinois tollway, with only two weeks to pay up before charges would inflate to $15,739.

Two taxi drivers were billed $80,571 last year for unpaid tolls dating back to 2003.

And Carla Meier-a resident of downstate Illinois who doesn’t use the tollway-recently received a $62 tollway fine while incapable of driving due to a broken foot.

Sadly, with the tollway’s modern I-Pass system, these situations are not unique. The top 50 toll violators have $2.2 million in outstanding fines, and although present information isn’t available, violators owed $78 million at the end of 2005.

But how do these monstrous fines accumulate?

Well, electronic tolling is both a blessing and curse. While I-Pass reduces traffic congestion (you can pay a toll without stopping at a booth), it also streamlines the taxing process. First, you put down a deposit for a transmitter that attaches to your windshield. This deposit is then used for tolls, and you can set up your account to automatically replenish itself via your credit card. Otherwise, you’re forced to monitor your toll account and manually send in money. A fine occurs when you drive through the I-Pass lane without adequate prepaid funds in your account.

Now, say your I-Pass account breaks. Perhaps you stop monitoring your account online, or there are complications with your automatic credit card deduction. You’ll continue cruising along the tollway, unaware, until-if you’re lucky-you get a nasty bill in the mail. Committing such an offense will then cost you $20 per toll, and that’s only for the first month. This toll fine jumps to $70 a pop in following months.

That’s not all. Let’s say you fail to receive your initial violation notice for that first month (presently a common situation in Illinois since the tollway uses inaccurate mailing lists). You may not receive notification until the Secretary of State threatens to suspend your license (luckily, they use a better mailing list). Sixty percent of suspensions appealed were thrown out over this notification dysfunction.

What about Carla Meier, fined from afar when she couldn’t even drive? There’s another other problem. The tollway’s enforcement program has difficulty discerning special license plates, which make up 25 percent of all license plates on the road. The result is confusion between similar numbers on different types of plates.

That’s highway robbery!

In my next post, I’ll review the internal tollway hearing process-check back soon to read it. (And, if you missed it, read Part 1 of this series.)

(A special thanks goes to Joseph Ryan with the Daily Herald for outstanding investigative reporting.)

When the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA) was established in 1941, Austin Wyman (the initial head of the organization) said the tolls would be eliminated by 1984 when outstanding bonds were paid off.

Instead, the Authority has done just the opposite, maturing into a self-perpetuating bureaucracy without any end in sight. It’s an excellent case study on the instinctive nature of bureaucracy; a testimony of self-preservation, growth, and government waste.

Historically, the tollway Authority served as an independent patronage empire with informal pay-to-play rules between private contractors. The headquarters in Downers Grove, formerly addressed “One Authority Drive,” is commonly referred to as the “Taj Mahal.” It’s a helipad-equipped facility with marble floors and Herman Miller Aeron executive desk chairs for all employees. In Illinois political culture, such excesses are used to communicate clout.

During the 90s, distinguished employees at ISTHA attracted the public’s attention. In 1992, John “Quarters” Boyle was sent to prison for stealing $4 million, mostly in quarters collected from tolls. He only repaid $720 and returned to prison in 2005 for involvement in Chicago’s more recent “Hired Truck” scandal. Later, in 1997, executive director Robert Hickman (coincidentally a talented Illinois campaign fundraiser) was convicted of fraud for $240,000 in a tollway real estate deal.

Needless to say, this glaring corruption generated public outcry to “Free the Tollway,” but politicians have offered little more than lip service.

On the campaign trail, Governor George Ryan promised to convert the tollways to freeways, but once in office, he replaced that concept with a less-intrusive cash cow, I-Pass (electronic tolling). And, of course, now Ryan is in prison, too.

To be continued…