Maryland Toll Penalties and Alleged “Poor Customer Service” by E-ZPass Collection System Draw Fire

MarylandReporter.com reports, “Excessive penalties and poor customer service at the E-ZPass electronic toll collection system have put some Marylanders on the path to ‘toll bankruptcy,’ Sen. Roger Manno told the Senate Finance Committee last week. ‘Folks [are] exasperated because they’ve been caught in a system that is not working,’ Manno said. Broad enforcement powers enacted in 2013 to address toll violations have led to wage attachments, financial hardship and non-renewal of vehicle registrations at MVA, witnesses testified.” The report adds, however, that Kevin Reigrut, the new Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) executive director, “told the senators that only a tiny percentage of drivers have been affected. ‘I don’t want to minimize the pain that certain customers have gone through, but running the numbers only .001% wound up in a circumstance’ like this. . . . He said 99.3% of Maryland toll customers are paying their tolls without incident.”