Syracuse drivers hit with toll bills for vehicles they say are not theirs

A Syracuse transportation company is fighting toll bills for a bus it says was never at the place shown on the invoice, and the problem is no longer looking like a one-off mistake. Christina Hughes, the general manager of Lanpher’s Transport, said the company kept getting toll bills tied to a white vehicle shown in the photo, even though its buses are yellow and the bill pointed to New York City, not Central New York.

Other local drivers say the same thing is happening to them. Glenn Craig of Preble said he was billed for a vehicle he had not driven in New York City for decades. Dorothy Doane of Eastwood said she was charged for a Pennsylvania toll even though she was not there. Craig said one disputed charge eventually went to collections, while Doane said her E-ZPass was revoked, turning what starts as a billing dispute into a problem that can affect credit, travel and day-to-day life.

The dispute can linger because New York’s toll system is built around plate images and mailed invoices. On the Thruway, cameras capture a license plate as a vehicle passes a toll point. If the driver does not have E-ZPass, the toll bill is sent to the vehicle’s registered owner using DMV records. The Thruway says those toll bills are mailed 30 to 45 days after the trip, which means a mistaken charge can show up long after the vehicle was supposedly there. E-ZPass New York says the mail can also be sent using USPS address updates or a customer-provided address.

Drivers should not ignore a toll bill they believe is wrong. The first step is to compare the vehicle image, the location and the date on the bill against where the car, truck or bus actually was. If the charge still does not make sense, the next step is to contact E-ZPass New York or Tolls by Mail customer service and dispute it directly. If that does not resolve the case, New York’s tolling agencies created Toll Payer Advocate offices in 2019, and the Thruway Authority says its Office of the Toll Payer Advocate exists to help customers who could not settle toll issues through customer service. The Port Authority says its advocate provides a free, objective investigation, and MTA Bridges and Tunnels warns that toll problems should not be ignored because they can lead to fees and other consequences.

For Syracuse drivers, the growing pile of wrong bills shows how a cashless toll system can turn a single plate-reading error into a fight that lasts for months unless it is challenged quickly.