Chapter 4 • Forecasts by Facility
Hatem E-ZPass® Program The Hatem Bridge E-ZPass ® Program provides drivers with two possible plan options. Choice A allows drivers with a two-axle vehicle to pay $20 per year for unlimited trips without any additional fees or prepaid toll deposits. However, this plan allows the E-ZPass ® to only be used on the Hatem Bridge, and cannot be used at other toll facilities or with other E-ZPass ® discount plans. Choice B is an add-on to a standard Maryland E-ZPass ® account. This allows drivers to pay $20 per year for unlimited trips at the Hatem Bridge. There are associated account maintenance fees for non-Maryland accounts as well as a pre-paid toll balance, but this plan also gives drivers a discount off the base toll rate for two-axle vehicles at all Maryland toll facilities, excluding the Intercounty Connector and I-95 Express Toll Lanes, and can be combined with other discount plans. The discount provided is 37.5 percent for the Bay Bridge and 25 percent for all other facilities. Revenue associated with purchasing these plans is included in the other revenue. Violation Recovery Historical violation recovery data through FY 2023 have been provided by MDTA. Prior to FY 2016, “violation fees” were charged to drivers who chose not to initially pay their toll. Since video customers are no longer assessed “violations fees” but are instead assessed civil penalties if they do not pay their video tolls within 45 days, no estimates of future “violation fee” revenue for the Legacy facilities, the ICC and I-95 Express Toll Lanes are included in the other revenue forecast. Future forecasts of civil penalty revenue are based on the following assumptions:
▪ Civil penalties were reduced from $50 to $25 in FY 2021 for all transactions with civil penalties and will remain at $25 for the duration of the forecast.
▪ Civil penalty collections in FY 2023 were impacted due to the MDTA customer assistance program which was initiated in February 2022 and terminated December 14, 2022. Civil penalty collections are assumed to be returned to normal procedure since FY 2024.
▪ MVA/CCU enforcement fully resumed around January 2024 and is assumed to continue throughout the forecast period.
Commercial Vehicles Fees and Discounts There are two available discount programs for commercial vehicles with five-or-more-axles. The first plan is the post-usage plan, which is account specific and can be used on all eligible facilities. With this plan, each account is assessed after 30 days and the post-usage discount is calculated based on the total toll usage. The fee estimates for this program were developed from existing data and historical trends. The other available discount plan is similar in that it is account specific and can be used on all eligible facilities. With this plan however, the account assessment after 30 days calculates the discount based on the total trips per transponder. In addition to the two discount plans available to commercial vehicles, there is a fee for over- sized and/or overweight vehicles. As of May 1, 2009, a $25 permit fee was charged and covered all MDTA maintained roadways along the vehicle’s route. This fee is a one-time charge and is not applied at any specific tolling location.
4-18
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online