One of the worst kept secrets in Dallas-Fort Worth is that out-of-state drivers can essentially get away with using North Texas toll roads for free, at least for awhile. But soon that may not be the case for many motorists from one neighboring state - Louisiana.
The North Texas Tollway Authority board on Wednesday approved an agreement with Louisiana's state transportation department to share license plate information. The agreement, which involved no exchange of funds, means that it will be easier for the Plano-based tollway authority to track down and mail bills to the registered owner of vehicles with Louisiana license plates.Tollway officials are sensitive to complaints from North Texans who use the region's tollways daily, and don't want out-of-staters to travel on the same pavement for free. They say that for several years they've employed the services of collection firm Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson to track down the most egregious toll violators from out of state. The collection agency typically has gone after the top 100 violators - including many drivers from Oklahoma and a smaller number from Louisiana and many other states.Tollway authority spokeswoman Susan Slupecki downplayed the potential for the agency to increase its revenue by going after more Louisianans."We're still getting the same information, but we're just not going to be paying our third party vendor for it," she said.But later, Slupecki agreed that the arrangement would make it easier for tollway officials to automate its billing for out-of-state users, and treat them the same as in-state motorists.The Dallas-Fort Worth tollway system is now all-electronic. The last toll booths were closed in 2010.Most vehicles on North Texas toll roads are equipped with TollTags, which are electronic transponders that make it possible to pay tolls automatically, using radio signals that tap into a user's account, which is typically backed by a credit card. For Texans who don't have a TollTag, an extensive camera system captures photographs of license plates, and sends the registered owner a bill.For in-state drivers, that's an automated process. But for out-of-state drivers, a human has to sort through the license plate numbers manually, and send them to the collection agency.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
