Family finds EZ Pass over charges following Action News Investigation

Following an Action News investigation on EZ Pass charges, one New Jersey family took a closer look at their EZ Pass bills.

From late August to mid-November, the family was charged $5 to cross Delaware River Port Authority Bridges on two dozen occasions, 20 other times they were charged $15.

According to the DRPA, the family's Ford F250 pickup triggered height sensors while crossing the bridges, and that kicked their toll charge to an audit.

DRPA CEO John Hanson said he doesn't know why the audits ended in different charges.

"It could be human error," said Hanson. "It could be he didn't have a good view."

Hanson said in years past any toll discrepancies from toll sensors, photos and/or transponders likely never got audited. Their computer system didn't provide enough time. Now, in 2017, it does. In fact, Hanson said under the toll rate schedule in place for years, weight not axles, can kick you into a more expensive class of vehicles.

"Regardless if you have two axles, if you drive a vehicle like a 2017 Chevy Tahoe, Cadillac Escalade, or Toyota Sequoia, under the weight rule you should be paying $15 to cross the bridges," he said. "As I became more aware of some of these issues, I asked our Inspector General to audit the revenue audit department who does this work."

Hanson said the final determination when there are varying factors with regard to toll charges is the registered weight on the vehicle registration. In this case, the family was refunded $260.

"I would encourage people to check their bills," said Hanson. "We want to charge tolls correctly."

Hanson said the Inspector General's report should be completed sometime in early 2018. If pervasive problems are found, he said he will fix them and make changes.

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