Violators still identified while software goes through upgrade BY PETE NARDI THE ISLAND PACKET

Published Wednesday, July 11th, 2001

The state Department of Transportation took more than a year off from fining drivers who ignored paying tolls on the Cross Island Parkway.

Now the bills are in the mail.

On Tuesday, the state began sending fines to about 11,500 drivers, seeking to collect about $150,000 in unpaid tolls and administrative fees, said Anna Salvagin, tolls manager for the transportation department. Those 11,500 drivers racked up about 50,000 violations between August 2000 and May 2001 on the island toll road, she said.

"We're still pursuing each and every violation that went through," said Salvagin.

In July 2000, the Transportation Department stopped mailing fine notices to drivers who winked at tolls on the parkway. The notices were put on hold while new computer software to process the fines was installed, Salvagin said.

The state's old computer software for processing the fines was overloaded by the spring of 2000, and new software was needed to avoid glitches, she said.

The new software is expected to generate a notice about a week after the violation occurs, Salvagin said. The old system at times took more than a month to crank out a fine.

The photo-monitoring system that nabs drivers skipping tolls has been working just fine, she said. Triggered by a driver not paying the toll, cameras capture four images of the offender's license plate. The images are then matched with vehicle registration information and a fine is mailed out.

The $1 toll charged for use of the parkway -- reduced to 50 cents for users who pay in advance -- has raised about $13 million since the road opened in 1998, according to state statistics.

The tolls are being used to pay off $45 million in bonds and another $38 million in interest-free state and federal loans used to build the parkway. The road was used by an average of 21,500 vehicles a day during fiscal year 2000-01, Salvagin said.

A first notice of an unpaid toll costs the driver a $10 administrative fee, plus the unpaid toll or tolls. If a second notice is needed, it will cost the offender a $25 administrative fee plus the unpaid toll, Salvagin said.

"We have all these patrons who are faithful," she said. "And just because the notices didn't go out doesn't mean the violation wasn't recorded."

http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/645024p-695164c.html

-- Anonymous, July 13, 2001