Lawsuit: cashless tolling a scheme with 'secret agreements' to divvy up millions in fees

Thousands of motorists have been hit with tens of millions of dollars in fees, the lawsuit claims

Rockland/Westchester Journal News

The lawsuit's claims echo the findings of an investigation by lohud and The Journal News into the cashleess tolling system on the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge
The lawsuit was filed by a Westchester County man who says he was hit with $6,000 in fees and fines despite using E-ZPass to cross New York bridges

Thousands of motorists have been slapped with tens of millions of dollars in fees since the Metropolitan Transportation Authority introduced cashless tolling on its bridges and tunnels in 2016, part of a scheme to enrich the MTA and its contractors, a federal lawsuit claims.

Tolls by Mail bills with late fees received by Deloris Ritchie of Hillcrest. Ritchie received $12,000 in late fees for tolls injured for traveling across the Tappan Zee Bridge. Last November, she was pulled over by police and her car was impounded for a suspended registration due to the fees. A judge eventually dropped any charges relating to the unpaid fees after it was proven that she had paid her Tolls by Mail bills.

The lawsuit filed in Manhattan Federal Court Friday names the MTA and its Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority as well as two contractors – Transworld Systems and Conduent – as defendants.

A second suit against the New York Thruway is threatened by the same lawyer who filed this complaint on behalf of a Westchester County resident.

“Defendants — who operate those systems and collect tolls from drivers — have used the cashless toll system to line their own pockets at the expense of drivers, primarily by collecting improper fees and penalties in addition to collecting the tolls,” the lawsuit alleges.

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The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Jason Farina, a Westchester County motorist who says he’s been charged more than $6,000 in fees and fines between October 2017 and January, mostly for $8.50 trips across the Throgs Neck Bridge in the Bronx.

Farina’s attorney, Stephen Fearon, is asking a judge to designate the lawsuit as a class-action so drivers with similar claims can benefit from the outcome.

“Each defendant has a strong financial incentive to pursue these improper fees and to collect as much as possible from drivers because of secret agreements between the defendants to split among themselves the amounts they collect,” the lawsuit adds. “Each defendant gets a percentage of the money collected from the driver.”

MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan declined to comment on the lawsuit but defended the switch to cashless tolling.

“Cashless Tolling is providing huge benefits to our customers by saving 3.4 million hours in travel time, 1.6 million gallons of fuel and 15,400 tons of carbon emissions," Donovan said.

The lawsuit’s allegations e cho the findings of an investigation by The Journal News/lohud.com into the cashless tolling system introduced on the Tappan Zee Bridge in the summer of 2016 and currently in use on its successor, the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.

Motorists say they’ve been hit with thousands of dollars in fines and had their registrations revoked even as they were trying to settle outstanding debts with the New York State Thruway Authority and its contractors.

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As a result, the Thruway Authority added new toll signs on the bridge and created an amnesty program, which has allowed motorists to knock thousands of dollars off their toll bills.

ABANDONED: Family left on the road at night over $12,000 in cashless tolls fees

Thruway lawsuit coming?

Fearon says he intends to file a separate lawsuit as soon as this week naming the Thruway Authority as a defendant for its cashless tolling system on the Cuomo Bridge.

In the federal lawsuit, Farina claims he was hit with a $100 fine for $8.50 trips across New York bridges while he was trying to pay previous charges.

“Despite his repeated efforts to pay the underlying bills, Defendants have continued to pursue (Farina) for the improper charges, now totaling more than $6,000,” the lawsuit alleges.

A Tolls by Mail bill belonging to Lisa Buckley of Nyack, photographed Feb. 1, 2018. Buckley had been traveling over the Tappan Zee Bridge for work every day last year and using Tolls By Mail to pay for the tolls. She had been paying her bills on time, but in November and December, Tolls by Mail did not process her payments until after her bill was due, and charged her late fees for the two months. She subsequently had the late fees reversed, but is still frustrated with the process. She now uses EZ Pass in order to pay for the tolls. She added the handwritten notes after speaking with a Tolls By Mail representative.

Farina, who works in Rye, used E-ZPass to cross the bridges and did not experience any billing troubles until November 2017 when he received notices indicating that his October 2017 bills had not been paid, the lawsuit notes.

It claims Farina contacted E-ZPass’ customer service office in December 2017 and was told to pay the tolls but not the outstanding fees. His E-ZPass account currently shows 61 violations and fees of $6,100, the lawsuit says.

Transworld is a Pennsylvania-based debt collection agency, which works for the MTA. Conduent, based in Florham Park, New Jersey, contracts to operate billing for the MTA’s cashless tolling program as well as the Thruway Authority. The lawsuit claims Conduent collected $3 billion in revenue for the MTA’s bridges and tunnels and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in 2015.

The MTA’s Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority introduced cashless tolling on the Henry Hudson Bridge in November 2012. The new system allowed motorists to cross the bridge without stopping for a toll, while their license plate was captured on camera. E-ZPass users received a discounted charge and others were billed by mail.

The cashless tolling system was expanded in December 2016 to include the Throgs Neck as well as five other bridges and three tunnels operated by the TBTA.