Those Chicagoland commuters who chronically skip tolls will soon find themselves in court, getting sued by the Illinois Tollway Authority.
The organization's research shows that 98 percent of drivers do pay their tolls. However, it’s the 2-percent of non-paying users who waste the authority’s time and resources in ticketing, phone calls, and eventually hiring collection agencies. In fact, officials say these scofflaws account for about $300 million in lost revenue.
The authority says this is a major loss for everyone that utilizes the system, because the tollway is mostly self-funded (i.e. by tolls) for all of its routine maintenance and day-to-day operations.
Now, after five notices, the tollway will file what it calls "administrative judgements" against these commuters in circuit court.
Again, these are not drivers who've missed a toll or two, here or there, but for violators whom the Tollway has repeatedly notified, and still won't pay up.
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The agency maintains and operates nearly 290 miles of interstate tollways in 12 Illinois counties.
