How thousands of motorists evade tolls with license plate tricks
How cars dodge tolls
The MTA loses tens of thousands dollars in toll revenue every day to motorists whose license plates are illegally obscured.
NEW YORK – The bridges and tunnels run by the MTA are busy, and they generate crucial revenue. Over $2 billion a year comes into the agency, which uses the funds to keep its mass transit infrastructure up-to-date. But some drivers have been cheating the system.
A video obtained by FOX 5 News shows a car going through the RFK Bridge cashless toll using a license plate that flips to a blank slate when the car approaches the E-ZPass reader. The video shows the plate flipping back once the car clears the toll plaza.
The MTA told FOX 5 News that on a normal day between 900,000 and 1 million vehicles use the agency's bridges and tunnels. The MTA said about 1% of the cars are going through with unreadable plates. Many of those vehicles have plates that are either covered, obstructed, or altered — all of which are illegal.
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Two days after FOX 5 sent the MTA the video of the license-plate-flipping car, the agency ran a sting and nabbed 17 cars, which owed the MTA over $530,000 in tolls and fines. Those cars with New York plates were towed and the drivers had to find their way home.
But despite such crackdowns, the problem persists.
And there are other implications for New York City as it prepares for congestion pricing.
License plate cheats are spotted daily but individuals who then post them on social media and if the tricks are allowed to continue, law-abiding drivers will have to pay more to make up for those not paying at all.
