MEMORANDUM
TO:
MDTA Board
FROM: SUBJECT:
Director of E-ZPass Operations, Heather S. Koeberle
Joint Chairmen’s Report (JCR) on the Feasibility of Capturing Images of Only Rear License Plates of Vehicles
DATE:
January 29, 2026
PURPOSE OF MEMORANDUM To update the MDTA Board on the response to the Joint Chairmen’s Report (JCR) which requested an update on the feasibility of capturing images of the rear license plate on vehicles for
tolling purposes. BACKGROUND
During the 2025 Legislative Session, committees requested MDTA to prepare a report on the feasibility of capturing the image of only the rear license plate of a vehicle at toll facilities in the State, equipment upgrades necessary to switch to a process of capturing only the image of the rear license plate of a vehicle, and any potential impacts that may occur as the result of only capturing the image of the rear license plate of a vehicle rather than both the front and rear
license plates. SUMMARY
As a vehicle travels through one of MDTA’s toll facilities and an active transponder is not read, images of both the front and rear plates are captured. The information from the best image, of either the front or rear license plate, is used to identify the vehicle’s registered owner. A Notice of Toll Due (NOTD) is then sent to the vehicle’s owner. This is the standard tolling procedure used by other E-ZPass agencies. Using license plate images of vehicles registered in Maryland, MDTA processed more than 15 million 2-axle transactions in calendar year 2024. The front plate image was used for 43% of the transactions and the rear plate was used for the remaining 57%. Not having a front license plate image available to use for tolling these vehicles would have resulted in a loss of about $35M in revenue. For the first three quarters in calendar year 2025, the front plate image was used approximately 40% of the time, which resulted in $22.6M in possible toll revenue.
2310 Broening Highway • Baltimore, MD 21224 • mdta@mdta.maryland.gov • 410.537.1000 • 711 (MD Relay) • mdta.maryland.gov • DriveEzMD.com
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