News for North Texas
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

NTTA Rolls Out 'Starter' TollTag With $20 Deposit

francesjane
/
KERA News
The NTTA's TollTags automatically bill drivers when they pass through toll gates.

The North Texas Tollway Authority is offering a new “starter” TollTag with a deposit of $20. 

That’s half the amount of the current tag which requires a driver to deposit $4o. 

The NTTA’s Michael Rey says the starter tag is for drivers who only use the toll roads occasionally.

“These are folks who use the toll ways or turnpikes to go to the airport, to visit a relative on the weekends, maybe jump around a traffic jam on occasion,” said Rey.

Rey says another $20 will automatically be billed to the tag owner when the account dips to $5. 

The NTTA says it decided to offer the starter card after surveying drivers who don’t have automatic tags even though a toll costs less with a tag than it does if the NTTA has to mail the bill through its ZipCash program.  Most said they hadn’t signed up because they seldom drive on toll roads.

Drivers who use toll roads nearly every day will still be required to deposit $40 because there is a cost to the agency for rebilling accounts.

The NTTA is also changing its late payment fees.  Instead of assessing a penalty for each toll, the NTTA will charge a flat $10 fee for the first bill that is not paid within 30 days.  The penalty rises to $29 with the second non-payment notice.  The NTTA can eventually withhold a driver’s registration.   

Former KERA staffer Shelley Kofler was news director, managing editor and senior reporter. She is an award-winning reporter and television producer who previously served as the Austin bureau chief and legislative reporter for North Texas ABC affiliate WFAA-TV.