Percentage of drivers who skip tolls went up when violations stopped

While the tollway was failing to send out violation notices last year, nearly one in 10 drivers were blowing off tolls or had bad I-PASS accounts - about triple earlier violation rates.

The spike is attributable to both the expansion of Open Road Tolling, which makes it easier to cheat the tollway, and drivers failing to manage I-PASS accounts and avoid fines, Illinois State Toll Highway Authority officials said.

"It is understandable there is going to be an education curve," tollway spokeswoman Joelle McGinnis said of inaccurate I-PASS accounts.

The tollway estimates the violation rate was 9 percent last year during a 13-month delay in sending out violation notices, she said. Before the delays, in early 2006, the violation rate held steady between 3 percent and 4 percent.

The new data underscores the sweeping fallout from the tollway's much criticized failure to send out fines between July 2006 and August 2007 because of a contractor mix-up. A Daily Herald investigation in January revealed flaws in the toll violation system, including how the notification gap left some I-PASS users with tens of thousands of dollars in fines because of account errors.

The violation rate is a signal of how important it is to send out violation notices promptly, said Joseph Schwieterman, director of the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University.

"The key to enforcement is timely response," he said.

Generally, violation rates on tollways nationwide range from 3 to 10 percent. It's often higher with barrier-free systems. In fact, some routes across the country have reported violation rates as high as 25 percent.

McGinnis said the tollway isn't sure how much of last year's estimated 9 percent violation rate is attributable to I-PASS account errors, but she expects it was a good portion.

Tollway officials could not provide a current violation rate because the agency is still working through a backlog of hundreds of thousands of violation notices.

The tollway is sending out about 10,000 notices a day, twice the normal rate. And users have flooded the tollway's call center, prompting officials to spend another $65,000 to increase the telephone system's capacity.

The tollway released the estimated violation rate for last year as it responded to public questions about the enforcement system.

In a presentation before the tollway board Thursday, executive director Brian McPartlin acknowledged an increase in violations since Open Road Tolling was completed in late 2006.

He argued the need for a vigorous enforcement system, saying even a 5 percent violation rate can cost the tollway $31 million - the price of a new interchange.

McPartlin also pointed out safeguards in the enforcement system, including a seven-day grace period to pay a missed toll and leniency on I-PASS users who rack up violations.

Two suburban lawmakers have introduced legislation aimed at ensuring the tollway doesn't have another 13-month gap in mailing notices. Tollway officials have largely opposed the measures, arguing they could hamper their ability to go after flagrant toll cheats.