BALTIMORE — Drivers are receiving packets of toll notices that date back several months.
WMAR-2 News Mallory Sofastaii reported on the pause in processing during the pandemic that resulted in millions of backlogged tolls. The Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) said that backlog was finally cleared, however, a “small unique subset of transactions” was held in a queue for additional manual review.
“The review was completed, the software logic has been updated and those transactions have been invoiced to our customers. We continuously work with our vendor to optimize our tolling system and streamline our processes to best serve our customers,” a MDTA spokesperson wrote in an email to Sofastaii.
Sofastaii asked how many transactions were impacted. The MDTA did not immediately respond.
Stacey Perry is among the drivers who recently received a stack of old tolls in the mail.
“Seventy-eight notices,” said Perry.
The thick packet comes with a steep total, $446 due within 30 days or else it increases to over $2,300.
“Because each citation includes a $25 civil penalty. Each one, individually,” said Perry. “Most people, if they would get something like this in the mail, they're not paying something that month to pay this.”
Perry doesn't deny that these are her tolls, she just didn't think they'd come all at once.
“You know, if you're going to send me this bill in a reasonable time, then I'll just pay the $6 it's not a big deal, I said, but not when you're going to send me a whole year. This is linked for 11 months,” Perry said.
Many drivers know this feeling after MDTA paused toll processing for seven months during the pandemic resulting in millions of backlogged tolls.
Customers later received huge stacks of old tolls with the expectation that they pay them within a month or be penalized.
After push back from legislators, the MDTA Board granted a nine-month grace period allowing drivers to space out payments and the department to clear the backlog.
RELATED: MDTA Board votes to temporarily waive late fees for outstanding toll bills
According to the MDTA, all Maryland customer tolls that were deferred during the COVID-19 pandemic completed posting online in the fall of 2022.
“People were saying this happened to me last year, this happened to me. So, I started to realize that I was not alone in this whole backlog thing,” said Perry.
WMAR-2 News recently received its own stack of tolls, 15 of them dating back to last September. And dozens of people responded to a Facebook post detailing their own experiences.
Sofastaii sent Perry’s information to the MDTA and a representative immediately called her. Her tolls were transferred out of her late husband's name and to her E-ZPass account, which reduced her rate. Perry said the representative is also allowing her additional time to pay the tolls without penalty.
Perry is hopeful other customers will receive similar treatment. She added that the switch to cashless tolling makes it more difficult for customers to know when their E-ZPass is working and when it’s not, and wants the MDTA to better communicate any issues in toll processing.
The MDTA said it can take days or several weeks for video toll customers to receive a notice of toll due. And they are not offering extensions for customers to pay these bills.
“When MDTA sends out a Notice of Toll Due, the EZPass customer has 30 days to pay their toll before civil penalties are incurred. They can pay their toll the day they receive it online at https://csc.driveezmd.com/pay-tolls-now or they can pay it at one of 12 DriveEzMD Customer Service Centers,” according to the MDTA spokesperson.
If customers need tolling assistance, they can call 1-888-321-6824, use the DriveEzMD.com webchat, or visit one of the Customer Service Centers to receive help from customer agents.
Click here for a list of all the DriveEzMD Customer Service Centers at MDTA Facilities and Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration branches.
And if you’ve used a Maryland toll road and aren’t seeing your Video Toll on DriveEzMD.com or haven’t yet received a Notice of Toll Due in the mail, MDTA asks that you contact them to check on the status of your toll transaction.
