Skipped a toll lately? Brace yourself -- the bill is coming

If you thought you got away with blowing off a few tolls this year because you haven't heard anything from the state, you may have a big surprise coming.

You soon may get a letter slapping you with big fines.

Since September 2006, the tollway has failed to send out toll violation notices and fines because of problems with a major overhaul of the enforcement system. But later this month, tens of thousands of notices, likely totaling more than $13 million in fines, will start hitting mailboxes.

"No one is going to get off without paying their fair share," said Joelle McGinnis, tollway spokeswoman. "The tollway pursues violation notices aggressively."

Yet, tollway officials have been lax in getting notices out since switching companies that operate the toll enforcement system.

In March 2006, tollway officials hired Texas-based Electronic Transaction Consultants under a five-year, $78 million contract to provide and operate the I-PASS system, including cameras that stop non-paying drivers from getting through the Open Road Tolling lanes without consequence.

Tollway officials say a delay in delivering notices was expected, but the wait wasn't supposed to last this long.

"It is definitely something we are disappointed about," McGinnis said. "However, it is an enormous task to migrate all that data."

The main switchover between the two contractors occurred in September. Since then, ETC has been installing data filters on the violation system to sift out non-violators while connecting the streams of scofflaw data to the I-PASS system.

ETC director Tim Gallagher described it as an unexpected logistical problem because the company had a hard time installing the Open Road Tolling systems and handling incoming violations while also converting over the data systems from the previous contractor. He added that it was necessary to stop the notice disbursement to ensure no invalid fines were delivered.

"You can only change so much at once," Gallagher said.

The one-year lapse in enforcement is just another speed bump in the tollway's push toward electronic tolling and video violation enforcement. Tollway officials also came under fire in 2001 for allowing a backlog of violations to stretch several years.

This latest problem has drummed up complaints from tollway reformers like state Sen. Jeff Schoenberg, an Evanston Democrat who pushed for increased scofflaw penalties.

"This represents a step back," he said. "The ideal situation would have been for there to be a seamless transition."

ETC's system was chosen, McGinnis said, because it better connects all the elements of enforcement, from I-PASS monitoring to cameras and fine collection. Previously those elements were handled by separate contractors and operated on incompatible systems.

Meanwhile, tollway officials have little sympathy for violators who may be hit with dozens of fines at once as a result of the delay.

"Quite frankly, you need to take a step back and realize these are people who are driving on a pay-as-you-go system and knowingly not paying," McGinnis said.

Toll violation notices are sent to the address on the vehicle's registration after three infractions are photographed. The registered vehicle owner is liable for the fines, regardless of who was driving.

Each infraction lands an automatic $20 fine. If the fines are not paid within 35 days, it jumps to $70 for each infraction.

After five violations and about three months, the tollway will move to have the vehicle's registration suspended. The vehicle owner's driver's license can also be suspended if the fines continue to remain unpaid.

McGinnis said notices will start going out again by the end of the month and the one-year backlog should be eliminated within three months.