'Ghost' plate problem worsened despite crackdown, MTA data shows

The number of times drivers used obstructed or altered license plates to avoid paying tolls at MTA bridges and tunnels jumped more than 12% in the first months of this year, as compared with the same period last year, according to MTA statistics obtained by Newsday.

The new figures suggest that despite increased efforts by law enforcement over the past year to crack down on "ghost vehicles," the problem is only getting worse for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which averaged about 399,000 missed toll transactions each month between January and April, according to the statistics.

While the MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said his agency is doing what it can to address toll evasion, which costs the MTA about $50 million a year, others questioned the effectiveness of occasional enforcement operations at select crossings.

"At every crossing, every single day, men and women should be assigned [to] pulling people over," said David Mack, the MTA board’s Nassau County representative and chairman of its bridge and tunnel committee. "It’s got to be on a daily basis ... They’ll know they can’t get away with it."

According to statistics obtained by Newsday through a public records request, through April of this year, the MTA recorded 1,595,900 "unbillable transactions" at its crossings, or about 398,975 per month. That’s up 7.3% from the 1,487,099 unbillable transactions in the first four months of 2023, when the MTA averaged 371,775 lost tolls each month.

The increased number of overall lost tolls is driven by a 12.6% increase in unbillable transactions attributed to "obstructed" license plates on vehicles, including plates that were covered, blocked or altered. Those climbed from about 138,000 per month in 2023 to about 155,000 per month this year, according to the MTA’s statistics.

The number of unbillable toll transactions attributed to fraudulent or unreadable plates held largely steady at around 80,000 per month, according to the figures.

The MTA did not respond to requests for updated toll evasion figures and total toll transactions for 2024.

Police have said scammers use a range of strategies to hide their license plates, from bending them to high-tech gadgets that make them disappear from view at the press of a button.

Asked about the continued rise of "ghost vehicles," as law enforcement authorities have dubbed them, Lieber vowed that the transit authority "will keep doing everything we can ... to push back" on the problem.

"New Yorkers want to know that things are fair for everybody. And just like we’re saying ‘no’ to fare evasion ... we’re going to say ‘no’ to toll evasion," said Lieber, who noted that, in addition to beating tolls, ghost vehicles also can be used in other crimes.

Gordon Tepper, spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul, in a statement to Newsday, said "the increase in toll evasion with altered plates is unacceptable and jeopardizes not only critical infrastructure funding but public safety, as these tactics have also been linked to serious crimes like hit-and-runs."

The MTA collected the data at its tolled crossings across the five boroughs, including the Throgs Neck Bridge and Queens Midtown Tunnel. Drivers without E-ZPass tags have photos automatically taken of their license plates and are billed $11.19 for major crossings.

Government agencies said unreadable license plates also have been increasingly used to evade red-light and speeding tickets, and other violations that rely on automated camera enforcement. Obstructed, altered or hidden license plates also have been a persistent problem at Port Authority crossings, where there were about 192,000 unbillable toll transactions per month last year, according to agency figures.

To address the problem, the MTA, working with the NYPD and other law enforcement agencies, in March launched a joint task force that has held regular enforcement operations at toll crossings targeting ghost vehicles.

Since then, the task force has held more than 50 operations, leading to 630 arrests, 28,000 summonses issued and more than 2,400 vehicles being seized for violations, including suspended registrations due to unpaid tolls, according to the MTA spokesman David Steckel.

Fines for fraudulent or obstructed plates can cost as much as $500.

"Six months after the MTA joined regional partners to create a task force cracking down on ghost vehicles and the biggest toll violators, it's clear the message is getting out," Steckel said. "We will continue to ensure everyone pays their fair share, and that cars with phony plates wind up in our parking lot."

Tepper said the governor successfully pushed for "tough new measures" addressing toll evasion in the state budget approved earlier, including increased fines and a ban on the sale of devices that hide or obscure license plates.

"Drivers attempting to avoid tolls and enforcement should know they will face serious consequences," he said.

Jay Beeber, executive director of policy for the National Motorists Association, a drivers’ advocacy group, believes that rather than doubling down on efforts to punish drivers of ghost vehicles, the MTA and other policymakers should consider the "underlying cause" of the problem — high tolls and camera enforcement strategies that are "terribly unfair." 

"They think that if they impose more and more draconian measures, they're going to have a better outcome. And it's just not how the world works," said Beeber, who emphasized that his organization does not condone license plate fraud. With E-ZPass, the tolls at major MTA crossings cost $6.94.

Beeber said it's possible the growth in license plate obstruction early in 2024 was, in part, motivated by motorists' anticipation of the MTA's congestion pricing plan, which would have added another $15 toll for vehicles driving below 60th Street in Manhattan. Hochul paused that plan just before it was set to take effect in June.

"They raise tolls to such an extent that it’s crushing people," Beeber said.

The MTA plans to raise toll rates next year, though the amount has not been determined. Its most recent toll increase, enacted in August 2023, raised the cost of a non-E-ZPass toll by 10%.

Other drivers said they have no sympathy for fellow motorists who try to cheat the system.

"It bothers me, because I’m one of the payers," Kenneth Folk, 54, of the Bronx, said while strolling down busy Atlantic Avenue in downtown Brooklyn last week. "So it’s not fair to me if they’re not paying and I’m paying. ... We have to crack down on it."

Stefania Rizzo, of Brooklyn, said she understands that "for some people, [tolls] might be more expensive than they can afford." But she believes all drivers need to be "accountable."

"You can’t break the law and expect it not to have consequences," Rizzo said.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.