Check Your Bill: Houston Drivers Overcharged To Use Toll Roads

HOUSTON, TX — A tag that has been sold to Houstonians and Texans as a necessary evil to remedy transportation woes has resulted in reports of drivers being erroneously overcharged to use tollways in Houston and other areas of Texas.

The EZTag, TXTag and TollTag programs, which enable motorists in Texas to use toll roads in Houston, Austin and Dallas, reported a rash over charges, with some drivers receiving violation notices by mail.

Jovannah Martinez-Torres, who has an EZTag, and uses the Grand Parkway frequently, told KTRK that she'd bee over-charged, at tmes being charged more than $5 when she passed through a charging station.

Kimberly Colwell, who lives in Spring, received her notice in the mail on Tuesday informing her that she'd had nine toll violations, according to a KPRC report.

The notices, which originated from the Texas Department of Transportation in Austin, did not confirm how many drivers were affected by the glitch, and issued an apology on the TxDOT website. (Want to get daily updates about traffic news and other events going on in your area? Sign up for the free Houston Patch morning newsletter.)

Along with the apology, TxDOT officials said they were working with other adjoining states such as Kansas and Oklahoma, to allow Texas drivers to use their tollway system while driving out of state.

“During this time, the transfer of account information between the partnering toll authorities was delayed and, as a result, some customers were issued a Pay By Mail invoice and violations in error. Due to this issue, we are receiving a high volume of calls and customers are experiencing long wait,” The TxDOT statement read.

Dallas, Houston and Austin are the only cities in Texas that use a toll road system, however, in recent years, state officials considered initiating a toll for U.S. 281 in San Antonio, but that highway remains free.

In the Houston area alone, drivers can use the Sam Houston Tollway, Hardy Toll Road, Westpark Tollway, Tomball Tollway and the Grand Parkway.

TxDOT officials have asked those who’ve received those overages to call the agency where they obtained their toll tag, and that those agencies will dispute Pay By Mail invoices or violations received in error from other toll agencies.

Images: Bryan Kirk/Patch Staff

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