CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The Illinois Tollway system said motorists have been going through automatic toll lanes millions of times during the pandemic and have not paid their tolls.
The Illinois Tollway system shut down its cash lanes in March to make it safer for motorists and tollway employees to reduce the chances of passing on the coronavirus. That forced everyone to drive through the automatic toll lanes, even if they did not have iPasses.
Tollway spokesman Dan Rozek said that between March and the end of June, motorists went through automatic toll lanes 275 million times. He said 5 percent of those passes through, or 13.75 million went unpaid and the motorists did not go online to pay what they owe.
Rozek said that during normal times, it's not uncommon for 2 percent of tolls to go unpaid.
He said the tollway system set up an overdue toll amnesty program in which anyone with an unpaid toll could pay the toll and a $3 fine instead of the usual $20 fine.
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Rozek said he does not know how many motorists have paid overdue tolls that occurred since March; but he said 42,000 overdue violations have been cleared up since the amnesty program was offered, and that all of them had been unpaid tolls from before March, possibly going back years.
Rozek said about 300,000 motorists still have outstanding tolls to pay and that they've been sent notices.
"Based on that, we figure that, unpaid tolls of roughly $19 million," he said.
Rozek said cameras and sensors keep track of vehicles that pass through automatic lanes, but who do not pay.
Motorists are usually given seven days to go online and pay what they owe before any notices go out. Rozek said the first two times a motorist goes through without paying are forgiven, but that tolls and fines start adding up after the third violation.
Rozek said 90 percent of the tollway system's transactions are done via iPass. He encourages anyone who uses the tollway, but who does not have an iPass to get one as the most economical alternative.