Police could confiscate the license plates of drivers caught trying to evade tolls on New York roads, bridges and tunnels under legislation proposed by Albany lawmakers in response to a surge in ghost plates.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the New York State Thruway Authority and others have sustained over $1.2 billion in losses linked to drivers altering or obscuring their plates or not bothering to pay over the last five years.
Drivers have been caught altering numbers and letters on their plates with black markers or flipping the switch on a device that hides their actual plate from cameras affixed to overhead gantries.
Last year, at its seven bridges and three tunnels, the MTA alone lost $300 million, a third of its total losses over the past five years.
Thruway Authority losses surge
The Thruway Authority suffered over $1 million in revenue losses between 2022 and 2024 across its 570-mile system, which stretches from Westchester County to the Pennsylvania border.
In addition to giving police the authority to confiscate plates, legislation pending in the state Senate and Assembly would:
The Citizens Budget Commission, a financial watchdog, sent a letter to the Senate and Assembly leadership last week urging lawmakers to pass the measures this session.
“Toll evaders steal more than $300 million annually from New Yorkers,” CBC president Andrew Rein wrote. “This bill would go a long way to rectifying this injustice. We urge the Legislature to enact it.”
A Ghost Plate Task Force made up of city and state law enforcement has issued over 75,000 summonses, made 1,700 arrests and towed over 7,000 vehicles since its March 2024 debut. The CBC said the effort has led to a 20% reduction in unbillable toll transactions at the MTA.
The MTA estimates it’s lost $42 million a year to ghost plates — either fake or obscured — over the past seven years. And an MTA report issued in February notes the value of unbillable crossings linked to ghost plates has risen since 2018, from $18 million to $56 million in 2024.
In 2024, the Thruway Authority issued over 1,000 tickets and seized 170 vehicles during a four-day enforcement effort. About half of the tickets issued were for license plate violations and nearly 300 went to drivers cross the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.
Thomas C. Zambito covers energy, transportation and economic growth for the USA TODAY Network’s New York State team. He’s won dozens of state and national writing awards from the Associated Press, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Deadline Club and others during a decades-long career that’s included stops at the New York Daily News, The Star-Ledger of Newark and The Record of Hackensack. He can be reached at tzambito@lohud.com
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Why NY lost $1.2B to toll evaders and how it could change penalties
Reporting by Thomas C. Zambito, New York State Team / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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