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Toll Enforcement – Current Practices:
Statewide Toll Rule Advisory Committee
(STRAC)
Building an enforcement program that is transparent, systematic, and customer-friendly
is central to maintaining revenue efficiency while maximizing customer service. There
are several best practices that can drastically reduce the reliance on collections of aging
receivables from customers.
A clear structure and diversification of enforcement measures can assist in building a
robust practice while minimizing punitive measures toward drivers. This helps to ensure
customers know the toll operator is providing a fair benefit to all.
Current Industry Practices
Most toll operators use invoices to collect toll money, followed by a violation notice that
can result in a uniform traffic citation and ultimately a hold or suspend their vehicle
registration or driver’s license, or both, for those who refuse to pay. Most toll operators
use contracted collection agencies to pursue unpaid debt from the biggest offenders
with a registration and or driver’s license hold, as a control to encourage payment if
other measures are not successful in finding or contacting a debtor to resolve
outstanding debt. Current common industry practices include:
• Inter-State Agreements - Establishing operating agreements with nearby operators
to share updated transponder list information increases the probability to charge the
customer’s prepaid account. This may limit sending out an invoice or violation notice
for out-of-state or away customers, including those whose information is out of date.
• Commercial Agreements – Another practice that minimizes sending out invoices
and violation notices is to identify and establish relationships with large fleet
programs including Transportation Network Companies (TNC’s), rental car
companies, and trucking organizations that frequent the roadways. A dedicated
customer service team can proactively address these needs. Several aggregators
are also emerging to assist with fleet management.
• Driver’s License or Registration Hold – Establishing or utilizing
legislative/administrative authority to hold a vehicle’s registration can be effective
when pursuing the collection of debt owed by habitual violators. The capability to
suspend a license or vehicle registration may also help with the collection of unpaid
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tolls and fees, but it is recommended that this only be as a last resort and only
considered for habitual violators after multiple attempts at collection have been
exhausted. While examples are considerable on toll operators that utilize registration
holds or suspensions, the few that have historically enlisted driver’s license holds or
suspensions are moving away from the practice.
Examples of enforcement actions are listed in the following table:
Toll Operator
Dispute
hearings
Registration
hold
Driver’s
license
suspension
Oregon Department of
Transportation (proposed)
Yes
Yes
No
Central Florida Expressway
No
Yes
No
Florida’s Turnpike
Yes
Yes
No*
Illinois Tollway
Yes
Yes
No
Maryland Transportation
Authority
Yes
Yes
No
Miami-Dade Expressway
No
Yes
No
North Carolina Turnpike
Authority
Yes
Yes
No
North Texas Turnpike Authority
No
Yes
No
Ohio Turnpike
No
No
No
Pennsylvania Turnpike
Commission
Yes
Yes
No
Washington Department of
Transportation
Yes
Yes
No
*Florida’s Turnpike suspended driver’s license in the infancy of electronic tolling, but
stopped this practice long ago.
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Overview
Every toll operator has a different escalation process for collecting fees and
fines.
A current trend in the industry is to use fees and fines, charged by the toll operator, to
recover costs associated with collections. The fees and fines are not punitive in nature
and are therefore more likely to be forgiven or written off than in past practice. This is
not always the case for every toll operation, revenue efficiency on this profile can vary
by jurisdiction. However, based on the current practices taken from a broad sample of
toll authorities, an example of a typical steady state collections process is generally
implemented with the following:
• An invoice process,
• Third party/outside collections processes, and
• Violation notices including administrative processes.
The remaining debt that is not collected is typically written off through a regular review
process. This process varies depending on the authority of the jurisdiction, as some
have full authority to write off the debt and others have little or no authority to write off
this debt. A strong write-off process, defined prior to the start of operations, is critical to
managing outstanding receivables and expectations, which have the potential to
become a large assumption in the financial plan.
Proactive Enforcement Measures
It is important that the toll operator have a transparent, systematic, customer-friendly
violation enforcement process. Enforcement measures viewed as an annual program
rather than an instance-by-instance improves both consistency and ease of
communication. These measures help to avoid the attraction of negative media
attention, which can cost a toll operator more money in recovering its image and
reputation due to an error in systematic processing.
An enforcement program generally consists of the following major elements:
• Continuous Education - A toll operator must clearly educate the traveling public
that tolls are collected to pay for the construction, operations and maintenance of toll
facilities and that all tolls and fees are used for this purpose only. This is typically
done through targeted marketing and communications, using outlets including but
not limited to a customer-facing website, social media and targeted radio, television,
or online campaigns to reach customers.
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• Customer Advocacy - Like most retail operations, most customers do pay their
debts. The non-paying customers represent a small number of customers and
paying customers need to know that the Toll Operator is on their side to prevent that
small percentage from using services without paying for them.
• Forgiveness - Prior to any aggressive collection effort, a toll operator will conduct a
media campaign that will offer customers a payment plan, reduced fees or fines, and
a way to start fresh. A forgiveness program allows customers the opportunity to
regain good standing, especially those who may be putting it off or do not have
sufficient funds to resolve the debt. This also strengthens the Toll Operators’ position
when more aggressive actions are required to maintain target revenue efficiencies.
• Timing and Lifecycle - After a clear attempt has been made to collect outstanding
debt, any aggressive collections campaign must be implemented with a regular
report of collection efforts that are transparent to the public. At this time, an
additional promotional media plan is often executed to defer any negative attention
caused by debtors and allow the toll operator to promote the value of the toll
operations including mobility and benefits of the toll operations to the community.
Typical enforcement measures occur in the spring or fall when people are not on
vacation or during holiday periods when discretionary funds are often limited.
• Payment Options – Planning ahead for different types of customers can reduce the
potential for debt occurring in the first place. Offering different types payment options
for customers that accommodate less frequent travelers or options that allow
customers to pay as they go with a secure payment type are examples that reduce
the risk of non-payment toll transactions. These also provide customers with options
beyond prepaid accounts with significant up-front payment requirements,
considering diversity, equity, and inclusion variations across customer
demographics.
An example of an annual enforcement program structure:
January – March: Education Campaign
March – June: Forgiveness Program
July – October: Promotion Campaign
August – October: Enforcement Program
November – December: Prepare for upcoming campaign
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During the first year of enforcement startup, it is recommended that the toll operator
focus on education and forgiveness programs, collecting revenue to build trust and be
transparent with its customers. After the initial period, education and awareness can
build support from the majority of its law-abiding customers while the toll operator must
enforce collections from travelers who refuse to pay their tolls.
