The automated system on the state’s first toll road is apparently sending erroneous bills to some drivers.
“According to them, I drive a white SUV Hyundai,” said Taylorville resident Tina Calle.
Calle received a bill saying she drove the Triangle Expressway 24 times last month. Except, her car is not a white Hyundai, it's a black SUV; and she’s never been on the toll road.
“They know they have a problem,” said Calle who has been in contact with the Turnpike Authority.
Officials say the problem is with the camera system. It’s supposed to take shots of a vehicle’s license plate so it can be matched with DMV records; but sometimes the system fails.
“We’re finding error rates from system errors as well as human error of keying in the plate wrong or the system not picking up the correct license plate,” explains Barry Mickle, who is the director of operations for NC Turnpike Authority.
The system has trouble reading specialty plates because of their layout, as well as plates that might be partially obscured.
“Maybe there’s a piece of dirt in the middle of a zero or an ‘O’ which makes it look like an 8 or a B,” says Mickle.
The Turnpike Authority says it’s sent out 30,000 bills so far and hasn’t made a huge number of mistakes.
“Our error rate is less than one percent,” said Mickle.
Driver Mike Thompson decided not to risk using the automated camera system before he ever drove on the new toll road.
The New York native said his past experience up north made him leery.
“I thought from day one they would have a problem with the recognition system with the cameras so that’s why I went with the transponder,” Thompson said.
Other drivers in the Triangle say they expected the state would have a toll system that was flawless.
“When you have something like that, it should be secure and know that you are getting the correct information in the mail,” said Aaron Vanterpoon.
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