New York City proposes rules targeting 'ghost vehicles' as congestion pricing starts

Anticipating a rise in so-called "ghost vehicles" with the advent of congestion pricing, New York City officials are looking to give police more leeway to go after drivers who hide or obstruct their license plates.

The New York City Department of Transportation on Tuesday proposed a set of new rules to "clearly establish visibility requirements for license plates." Violators could be subject to a $50 fine.

The rules, which specifically address parked cars, would prohibit anything that would render a vehicle’s license plate "unreadable, obscured, concealed, or distorted."

The city's current rules already require plates to be "conspicuously displayed," clean, and not covered by a glass or plastic device. The new rule is more expansive, specifically prohibiting anything that would make it difficult to read a plate, including dirt, rust or any material or "substance" that could coat or cover a plate.

The new rules would reflect similar changes made last year to state vehicle and traffic laws.

City Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, in a statement, said that by expanding the definition of what is illegal, "we will be able to hold reckless drivers accountable and create safer and more accessible streets for all."

The proposed changes follow Sunday’s launch of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s congestion pricing plan, which sets new tolls for vehicles driving below 60th Street in Manhattan. Most drivers are paying $9 during peak periods, but the tolls can run as high as $32.40 for large trucks without E-ZPass. The tolls are set to rise by about 67% over the next six years, to $15 for most passenger vehicles with E-ZPass.

Over the last year, the MTA has partnered with the NYPD and other law enforcement authorities to conduct regular enforcement operations at toll crossings targeting ghost vehicles. As of November, the joint task force 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.

Despite the stepped-up enforcement, data suggests the problem has only worsened. According to MTA figures obtained by Newsday, the number of trips using obstructed or altered license plates to avoid paying tolls at MTA bridges and tunnels jumped more than 12%, from about 138,000 per month in the first four months of 2023 to about 155,000 per month during the same period in 2024.

MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said figures on how many vehicles with unreadable plates have driven into the congestion pricing toll zone since Sunday are not available.

Addressing the new tolls for the first time since they took effect Sunday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he anticipated "an entirely new industry on how to evade tolls."

"That’s just the ingenuity of mankind, of humankind," Adams told reporters at a City Hall news conference. "Every person who refuses to pay their toll is going to be taking it out of the pockets of those that are paying their toll."

"Ghost" vehicles — so dubbed because of their ability to evade license-plate reading cameras — have, in recent years, been a persistent problem for law enforcement and tolling authorities, including the MTA, which has said it loses about $50 million in evaded tolls each year.

MTA chairman Janno Lieber, speaking to reporters Sunday, warned drivers not to "subject yourself to fines or potential imprisonment by messing around with your license plates."

Lieber said the MTA is "getting better and better" at spotting doctored plates. Any plates that are not easily read by the MTA automated camera-enforced tolling technology are subject to a "manual image review," Lieber said.

MTA Bridges & Tunnels chief operating officer Allison de Cerreño added that "the vast majority of people actually do the right thing and pay their tolls."

The city will hold a public hearing on Feb. 6 on the new rules, which don't require action by the City Council to be made official.

With Matthew Chayes

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.