MTA seizes 20 vehicles for $600,000 in unpaid tolls, including from Long Islander who owed $50,000

The MTA stopped 20 repeat scofflaws at the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge who had racked up over a half a million dollars in unpaid tolls and late fees on Monday — and impounded the cars as a result.

The violators, including two from Long Island, were caught in a six-hour stretch Monday and had accrued nearly $600,000 for dodging toll payments at MTA-operated bridges and tunnels, according to the agency.

One Long Islander owed nearly $50,000, while another had roughly $39,000 in unpaid tolls and fees. The top offender in Monday's enforcement accrued $57,000 in unpaid tolls and fines. None of the drivers were identified by the MTA.

It’s the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's latest attempt to recoup lost toll revenue. A record crackdown in a single day last month ended with 32 cars being towed due to nearly $900,000 in nonpayment of tolls, according to the agency. Tolls also help fund mass transit.

“Officers have proven time and time again, if motorists try to evade paying the toll, they will get caught,” interim MTA Bridges and Tunnels President Catherine Sheridan said in a release.

The MTA seized 1,800 vehicles for unpaid tolls last year and a total of 7,800 since cashless tolling launched in 2017. Drivers with suspended registrations are caught by specialized license-plate readers used by the agency’s bridge and tunnel officers.

The agency uses registration suspensions, roadside interdictions and other data-driven information to identify violators.

The agency said it has recovered more than 90% of outstanding tolls since the Department of Motor Vehicles Registration Suspension Program began in 2016 — but did not specify how much has been collected.

The enforcement follows an announcement last year that city and state law enforcement partners would work together to crack down on obstructed and counterfeit license plates.

Lisa Daglian, executive director of the MTA’s Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee, said toll evasion robs the MTA of millions of dollars a year.

“It is good news for riders and drivers alike because this is money going to back to a network we all use,” Daglian said.

The MTA is facing a fiscal cliff, a recurring $2 billion annual budget shortfall, largely attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the agency forecasts a $600 million deficit by the end of this year, Newsday previously reported.

The deficit is not only due to lower ridership levels, which aren’t anticipated to return to pre-COVID levels until 2035, but, Daglian said, “because there is a big hole where payment evasion exists.”

Car registrations are suspended following $200 or more in unpaid tolls and fees or after receiving three violations for unpaid tolls, each within a five-year period, according to the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

Driving with a suspended registration is a misdemeanor, and may result in a fine, imprisonment or both.

The MTA did not say whether any arrests were made.