How To Get Toll Fees Waived Ny

A Journal News/lohud employee received a notice this month claiming she owes $30 in tolls and $600 in fees for six trips across the Gov. Mario Cuomo Bridge. She said she received no prior warning.

The Journal News/lohud continue to receive readers' stories about their issues with the cashless toll bills, stemming from reports that motorists were being hit with up to thousands of dollars in fees after failing to pay initial bills.

The problem, many report, is that they say they never received the initial bills by mail alerting them of their bills. The Thruway Authority defended its position, saying they use car owners' addresses tied to their registrations.

Readers, responding to requests by The Journal News/lohud, have been sending in their tales steadily at both the current Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge and its predecessor, the Tappan Zee Bridge. The Journal News encourages drivers to keep sending their stories to digital@lohud.com.

FEES: Tappan Zee, Mario drivers hit with thousands in fees

FAQ: How cashless tolling on the Mario is supposed to work

THRUWAY AUTHORITY RESPONSE: Thruway Authority defends system despite flood of complaints

PART I: Cashless toll fees: Your stories, your bills

Here are some of the latest stories:

Traci Cohen, West Nyack

"This happened to my husband. He had over $900 in fees alone! When I called to pay it I said to them, 'It's ridiculous to have fees that are more than the actual violations.' After talking to them they were able to take $400 off the $900 in fees as if it was giving me a break. Ugh we paid them anyway. I knew something was wrong but they threatened to suspend his registration if he didn't pay them."

Dana Bucci, Tarrytown

"I went over the bridge once sometime in July, and I didn't get anything in the mail until I got the collection notice saying I owe $105 sometime in early October. I paid the toll. E-ZPass accepted my toll payment, but they said the only way to fight the $100 is to write a letter to Albany, so that's what I did. I wrote a written letter to the violation center in the Albany and sent them copies of my notices. Now I'm just waiting to hear back."

Jodie McQueen De Crescenzo, Ossining

"We had to pay a $300 fine because we were 'late' in paying for the $5 toll. They said we had a first notice in the mail. We never got one. The first and only notice we got was a $300 bill and when we called to query it, were told to pay now or have registration canceled. Bunch of liars and crooks."

Thruway Authority responds

State Thruway officials on Monday defended their cashless tolling system.

"Part of the shift to cashless tolling is the need for effective enforcement to incentivize people to pay their tolls," Thruway Authority spokeswoman Jennifer Givner said. "That is the goal here. After all of this work our goal is to get people to pay their tolls. If you're paying your toll on time you will not have to face additional fees."

The firestorm kicked off last Friday when John Power of Pearl River told The Journal News/lohud that the registrations of his son's three cars was suspended for owing nearly $7,000 in fines and unpaid tolls for trips across the bridge.

Power joined others who claimed they were socked with fines even though they never received notice of a violation.

In April 2016, the Thruway Authority introduced cashless tolling on the bridge by installing a gantry on the Rockland County side. It was hailed as a state-of-the-art response to easing traffic flow across the new bridge.

How to deal with the problem

Officials from the New York State Thruway Authority have suggested various options for drivers facing toll payment issues:

Get an E-ZPass after the fact to avoid certain fines. Thruway officials said that as long as a bill has not been sent to a collection agency — typically about 120 days after a toll goes unpaid — they will offer to waive violation fees if the driver signs up for E-ZPass.

Go to tollsbymailyny.com to pay early if you don't have E-ZPass and don't want to wait for a bill.

Call 1-844-826-8400 for information.

Call the E-ZPass Customer Service Center at 1-800-333-8655 to discuss violation charges.

Has this happened to you? You go through a cashless toll, never get a bill in the mail, and suddenly you've racked up hundreds in fees? Email your story to digital@lohud.com.

Twitter: @ChrisEberhart2