Lawmakers, officials push state to ‘End the Toll Trap’ for motorists

A wide coalition of New York state and city legislators have called for an end to excessive late fees and penalties for E-ZPass, an electronic toll collection system, and Tolls by Mail, another cashless tolling authority. Several proposed bills are currently on the books to curb the “predatory” toll issue for drivers.

“This company is exploitative … it’s about time that I think we really put as much publicity and light on this,” said Public Advocate Jumaane Williams at a virtual town hall on June 29.

The town hall was joined by several legislators, including Assemblymembers Chantel Jackson, Landon Dais, Al Taylor, and Latrice Walker, as well as City Councilmember Nantasha Williams. They said they have personal experience with waiting hours on the phone for help with skyrocketing fees as they travel back and forth from the city to Albany. They are pushing bills in the state senate and assembly to address the issue, such as the End the Toll Trap: Real Relief for Drivers Act.

The bill would prevent administrative fees unless a motorist has committed three or more toll violations within a 90-day period and requires fees to reflect the actual cost of processing the violation. It also requires an annual public reporting about tool violations and creates an interstate toll task force to recommend long-term reforms. Other legislation includes Senate Bill S2245, which establishes a cashless tolling amnesty program, and Public Authorities (PBA) law § 2855, which would protect EZpass owners from recurring administrative fees.

“The (End the Toll Trap) bill is basically to protect responsible motorists from excessive toll violation and penalties while ensuring that toll evaders remain accountable,” said Assemblymember George Alvarez, who is the bill sponsor in the assembly. “Unfortunately, many drivers receive a violation because of something that is not even our fault. Sometimes we have expired credit cards. Sometimes we have low EZ-pass balance. Sometimes tag malfunctions. Sometimes the transponder is mounted incorrectly in the car, turning a minor oversight into a significant financial burden.”

This issue affects a wide range of New Yorkers, from business owners to everyday commuters. Many of the affected drivers complain that it is hard to verify whether charges are legitimate due to a lack of customer service and unreliable mailing system, and they can easily spend hours being transferred from one agency to another without any resolution.

E-ZPass New York and Tolls by Mail New York are operated under multiple tolling agencies, including MTA Bridges and Tunnels, the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the New York State Thruway Authority NYSTA, and the New York State Bridge Authority. In 2019, these agencies established an independent Toll Payer Advocate Office committed to helping customers with toll-related issues when customer service can’t.

The state’s comptroller office published a 2025 audit of the NYSTA stating there had certainly been improvements since cashless tolls were first introduced but problems, such as inaccurate toll collection, still remain. Auditors found that the Thruway authority did not always follow its own guidelines when it came to the toll advocate office and “does not have a workable method for dealing with undeliverable mail.”

“The problem is that both on the assembly side and the program council on the Senate side, my council finance folk are listening to the Port Authority and the MTA, because this has been a cash cow for them. They are making money from this, and they’re not caring about people,” said Senator Leroy Comrie.

In 2024, the NYSTA reported $1 billion in toll and related revenues, up from $804 million in 2021, according to the state’s comptrollers report. E-Z Pass accounted for 95% of all tolls collected in 2024.

Comrie said he has constituents from Queens who commute daily as far as New Jersey for work, and have regularly been hit with fees up to $5,000 monthly. “It’s ridiculous,” said Comrie. “They refuse to acknowledge that it’s a problem.”

“There is no way in my mind, and I think we all agree, that a $2 toll should result in people having $50 to $100 fees, time and time again, which ultimately has been putting people in debt,” said Tamika Mallory, co-founder of Until Freedom. She figured out that she was $2,000 in debt because of a broken transponder after receiving a large bill in the mail.

“When I attempted to call, like anything else, you pick up the phone, you make a call, you try to settle and solve whatever the issues may be,” said Mallory. “It was three hours of waiting to be told that there was nothing that anybody could do, and that I could send a piece of mail to a different department, and hope that someone gets back to me … There is no one standardized process, which there should be for all New Yorkers.”

The group is also petitioning Governor Kathy Hochul to take immediate action to help commuters address their growing toll debt and implement the Fair Resolution Plan.

“We will evaluate the proposal if it becomes a priority in both houses of the NY State Legislature,” said MTA Communications Director Tim Minton in response to an inquiry from the Amsterdam News.