Fix the toll collection system -- now

It shouldn't be a surprise. But it's disappointing, nonetheless.

Several months after a Daily Herald investigation revealed myriad problems in the toll collection enforcement system, little has been done to fix it. We argued back in January, and do again, that these are not minor problems as the toll highway authority would have you believe. These need fixing -- and sooner, not later.

We're not alone in that thinking. Terry Pastika, director of the Elmhurst-based Citizen Advocacy Center, says the tollway is doing nothing to fix a flawed system.

Joe DiJohn, Metropolitan Transportation Support Initiative director at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said the public needs to know that toll violation enforcement is done in an efficient and effective manner.

And Joe Schwieterman, director of DePaul University's Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development, said "this is a policy controversy that needs a full public airing."

All three transportation experts discussed the problems of the system with Projects and Politics Writer Joseph Ryan. These issues include having no statistical information on how many drivers don't pay tolls; problems with software that has difficulty differentiating certain license plates resulting in bogus violations; a notification system that is beset with problems; and continued issues from a 13-month delay in sending out notices.

Meanwhile, reform calls, including from the legislature, have been rebuffed.

Back in January, we called on the tollway authority to show a sense of urgency to correct the system and put pressure on their contractors to solve problems in a timely fashion. Regrettably, they've done neither.

The tollway has not reprimanded the contractors for the 13-month violation notice gap -- saying instead they "hold their feet to the fire" over their performance. Yet that gap has led to notices going out now at twice the normal rate, and resulted in phone calls spiking to 8,500 calls a day from an average of 6,500 in February and required additional staff to handle the call volume. In addition, Web site hits have tripled and appeals (many violation notices are in error) also have jumped.

It's a mess. Yet, when state Rep. Paul Froehlich, a Schaumburg Democrat, introduced two reform proposals -- both attempting to put a limit on how long the tollway can wait before sending out violation notices and offering violators a payment plan option or break on fines -- they were stalled.

"They think everything is just fine the way it is," Froehlich said.

We don't. And we agree with state Rep. Dennis Reboletti, an Elmhurst Republican, who is pushing for hearings on the issues. While we agree when tollway authority officials say the public wants to make sure violators pay their fair share, we don't agree that the system is OK as-is, or just needs a tweak. It needs some major repair, just like the construction work under way on several of the tollway's routes.