Earlier this month, the OLReporter informed us of a new anti-blight effort in Bridgeport: a “shame campaign” involving the online posting of photos of the city’s worst blighted properties and their owners’ names.
The Illinois Tollway is hoping that a similar public shaming approach will encourage scofflaws to pay overdue tolls and fines. In late August, the Tollway posted a list of tollway users who have accrued over $1,000 in tolls and fines on its website. The list will be updated quarterly.
As reported in the Chicago Tribune, Illinois governor Pat Quinn signed legislation in August allowing the Tollway to publish the violators’ names and the amounts owed. In 2012, the Tollway estimated that violators accrued about $300 million in unpaid tolls and fines since 2001. Unpaid tolls and fines already subject violators to possible drivers’ license or license plate registration suspension, collection agency referral, credit bureau reporting, and litigation.
Other states’ agencies that use this public shaming tactic to elicit payment include the North Texas Tollway Authority and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
