On-road enforcement for habitual violators now in effect on 290 Toll

On-road enforcement for habitual violators using 290 Toll began Nov. 1. The program allows Travis County law enforcement to ensure that people with more than 100 unpaid tolls in a 12-month period—a group referred to as habitual violators—do not use the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority road.

Law enforcement has the discretion to issue warnings or a class C misdemeanor with fines up to $500. In rare cases, vehicles may be subjected to impoundment, said Tracie Brown, director of operations for the Mobility Authority.

The Mobility Authority board of directors approved a $250,000 contract with the Travis County Sheriff’s Office for 290 Toll on-road enforcement during its Aug. 25 meeting. On-road enforcement was already in place on 183A Toll in Williamson County beginning in February 2020.

During the August board meeting, Brown said an independent analysis found that the program had been successful in getting 20% of habitual violators to make payments.

“I think it's very important that we execute these agreements to deter the violators that we see on our roads every day,” Brown said.

Once a driver receives notice of their habitual violator status, they have 30 days to appeal. The notice includes information about the driver’s outstanding balance, penalties for continued nonpayment and resolution details, according to Mobility Authority documents.

In addition to the on-road enforcement, a habitual violator’s vehicle registration can be blocked, and they will receive a notice of vehicle prohibition. The Mobility Authority posts violators’ names, license plate numbers, state and number of unpaid tolls on its website.

In October, the Mobility Authority added 616 vehicles to its list of violators, bringing the total to 7,500 violators. For new habitual violators in October, the average number of unpaid tolls was 443, with an average unpaid balance of $1,682.21, according to Mobility Authority documents.