Ignore the hysterical postings about the DMV suspending licenses and revoking registrations. According to RITBA, via WJAR-TV, the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority is hoping those who don't have an E-ZPass will be honest.
"We're going to put up telephone numbers and websites and places for people to call, go on the Web and pay the toll," said David Darlington, chairman of the RITBA.
The RITBA is not going to track you down, fine you or send you a bill if you don't have an E-ZPass and you don't pay.
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Darlington said it's the honor system.
"It's the same thing as not speeding," Darlington said.
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John Vitkevich is one of the many East Bay opponents who have been fighting the toll is asking drivers with E-ZPasses to hide them.
"The 10-cent toll is a pathetic toll," Vitkevich said. "If they want to collect the 10-cent toll, we just want to make it more difficult for them to collect it because we oppose a toll on the Sakonnet River Bridge."
If control of the bridge goes back to the state, the toll would go away and the General Assembly would have to find some way of paying for bridge maintenance.
According to the Fall River Herald, drivers without a transponder will have their license plate recorded and will be responsible for a toll, but there will be no way to pay it, at least not immediately. There will be no toll collectors at the toll plaza and RITBA will not send out bills.
“It would not be prudent to spend dollars to collect a dime,” Darlington said. “If we do nothing and don’t even attempt to collect the toll, we could be seen as negligent.”
“Anything we do in the future would be prospective,” Darlington said. The authority will not try to collect tolls retroactively, he said.
It would have been nice if Patch had posted an article about these developments... it took me all of five minutes to cobble this together.
