$2.4 mil hole in the tolls

ALBANY – Unbilled toll transactions have skyrocketed at MTA bridges and tunnels since the agency began relying on cashless tolling, a new audit revealed Wednesday.

State Controller Thomas DiNapoli’s audit found that 340,851 unbilled toll transactions have taken place at MTA crossings between Jan. 1, 2013 and Aug. 20, 2017, costing the agency at least $2.4 million in uncollected revenue.

The bulk of the unbilled transactions – 199,627 trips worth at least $1.64 million – took place in 2017, when the MTA expanded the use of cashless tolling from a pilot program at the Henry Hudson Bridge to all its bridges and tunnels, the audit stated.

“More needs to be done to ensure that those using our bridges and tunnels are paying the required tolls,” DiNapoli said.

According to the audit, the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, which oversees the MTA’s seven bridges and two tunnels, lost toll revenue for a host of reasons, including license plate images that could not be processed and an inability to obtain addresses for some out-of-state drivers that had temporary license plates issued by their home states.

DiNapoli’s audit also found that law firms hired by the TBTA to collect unbilled tolls from the worst offenders were not effective in doing so. He urged the agency to improve both its license plate imaging and its collection processes.

In its official response to the audit, the TBTA took issue with DiNapoli’s findings, arguing that unbilled transactions accounted for less than 1% of tolls taken at MTA bridges and tolls.