SunPass mess fallout: Tolling director is replaced and vendor is fined $4.6 million
The Florida Department of Transportation has replaced its tolling director and fined the contractor responsible for botching last year’s takeover of the SunPass system $4.6 million so far, the department said Friday.
In a statement, Gov. Ron DeSantis added he was also authorizing FDOT to continue waiving fees and penalties for motorists who had problems last year when Conduent State & Local Solutions took over the state’s tolling system.
“Since I’ve been governor, I’ve heard the concerns from citizens and customers of SunPass and the hardships they’ve been facing related to their delayed bills and billing errors by the contractor, Conduent,” DeSantis said in a statement. “I’ve directed the Florida Department of Transportation to continue suspending fees and penalties until June 1st.”
FDOT’s new secretary, Kevin Thibault, said in a statement that he has told the head of Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise to assess “maximum performance penalties” allowed under its contract with Conduent. That’s $4.6 million so far, Thibault said. He has also told Conduent to add more people to its customer-service centers.
“We are committed to fixing the issues related to Conduent’s performance and we will continue to hold them accountable,” Thibault said in a statement.
Thibault added that FDOT has made “multiple personnel changes,” including replacing its director of toll systems.
Conduent, then known as Xerox, won the estimated half-billion-dollar contract to overhaul the state’s SunPass toll system in 2015, despite a track record of botching similar jobs in Florida and other states.
When Conduent started processing tolls last year, it quickly fell behind, leading to over-billing and a backlog of millions of unpaid tolls, angering motorists and lawmakers alike.
The deal has garnered scrutiny from state senators, who want answers about what went wrong and why FDOT paid $3.6 million to get one of Conduent’s competitors to drop its bid protest in 2015. That unusual payment helped ensure that Conduent would win the contract.