FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Aug. 1, 2019

Contact:          John Sales

                        410-537-1017

REMINDER:

PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD BEGINS TODAY FOR

NEW TOLLING PROPOSAL

Lower Toll Rates, New Discount and New Payment Option

BALTIMORE, MD – With a toll modernization system coming online next year, the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) is seeking public comment on a package of tolling options that would provide cost savings for customers. Last week, the MDTA Board voted to seek public comment and hold hearings on the new options after Governor Larry Hogan outlined how this toll relief package would save Marylanders more than $28 million over five years.

The public is invited to comment on a new Pay-by-Plate payment option, available by June 2020, which will allow tolls to be automatically billed to credit cards at the same rate that cash customers pay today; new vehicle classifications, available by September 2020, providing lower toll rates for motorcycles and for vehicles towing one- and two-axle trailers, such as those for watercraft or landscaping equipment; and a new 15 percent discount for Video Tolling customers who pay before invoices are mailed, available by December 2020.

Beginning today, customers can comment on the proposal in the following ways:

• Visit mdta.maryland.gov/TollModernization/Home to submit comments online.
• Visit mdta.maryland.gov/TollModernization/Home to download a comment card to be mailed.
• Attend one of nine public hearings that will take place in September in Harford, Cecil, Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Queen Anne’s, Prince George’s, Charles and Montgomery counties and in Baltimore City to provide public testimony, private testimony or written comments. Dates, times and locations will be advertised online and in local media.

Full details about the tolling proposal can be found at mdta.maryland.gov/TollModernization/Home. The public comment period will close at 5 p.m. Oct. 3. A Toll Hearing Final Report will be submitted Oct. 31 for review by the MDTA Board and will be posted online for additional public comment. The Board is scheduled to vote on a final recommendation at its Nov. 21 meeting.

To sign up for email/text alerts for MDTA roadways, visit mdta.maryland.gov. Follow MDTA on Twitter at twitter.com/TheMDTA and find us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheMDTA. 

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