Kat wants toll cheats to pay
Congest scofflaws could face jail
Drivers who evade the controversial $15 congestion-pricing toll to enter Midtown will be treated like criminals under legislation introduced by Gov. Hochul.
Hochul included a “toll fraud” proposal in her $233 billion state budget plan.
The measure would allow cops to charge drivers with a Class A misdemeanor toll theft — defined as fraudulently attempting to obtain a credit, discount or exemption from tolls.
Scammers who evade paying tolls valued at more than $1,000 could get slapped with a Class E felony; pocketing tolls valued at more than $3,000 would mean a Class D felony.
Misdemeanors can result in up to one year of jail time.
The MTA will collect the toll imposed to enter the central Midtown business district as early as May to fund “transportation operations and infrastructure that is currently being lost due to theft of public services.”
Vanishing vanish plates
The penalties would take place 90 days after becoming law.
The governor also recommends imposing a fine of $100 to $500 on drivers passing through license plate readers with intentionally obscured plates to avoid paying tolls on all of New York’s tolled bridges and tunnels.
The bill also authorizes police to confiscate material that covers license plates and raises the minimum fine in such instances to $250.
The bill also calls for outlawing the sales of “vanish plates” and other fake license plates that cover real plates.
The crackdown would generate an additional $35 million to $55 million for toll collection agencies, including the MTA and the Port Authority, and take place one year after becoming law.
As The Post reported last week, Hochul is backing the MTA’s push to overhaul how farebeating is policed, with proposals that would increase fines for repeat offenders — but let first-timers off with just a warning.
The MTA thanked Hochul for going after toll cheaters in the age of high technology.
“The MTA has been using every tool available to deter and apprehend toll scofflaws. However, technology can get ahead of what is permissible under the law,” said John McCarthy, the MTA’s chief of policy and external affairs.
Hochul’s proposed law is evidence that she’s solidly behind the congestion-pricing program.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Democratic-run Assembly and Senate approved the congestion-pricing program for the MTA to implement back in 2019.
Hochul inherited and supports the program, which is expected to raise $1 billion a year to fund $15 billion worth of upgrades for the MTA’s subway, commuter railroad and bus systems, while aiming to curb congestion in the Manhattan business district during peak hours.
The MTA has begun to install license readers on the FDR Drive and West Side Highway as part of the congestion toll program.