Toll debts mean denial of license
Tuesday, November 8th, 2005 - 4:25 pm
Toronto - 407 ETR has won an Ontario Divisional Court case that orders the Ontario Registrar of Motor Vehicles to deny vehicle permits to individuals who refuse to pay their 407 ETR tolls. The Registrar must deny the plates of over 4,000 individuals who used the highway but, to date, have refused to pay. 407 ETR had started to send these plates for denial in August 2003, but the Registrar had refused to act.
407 ETR (Express Toll Route) is a 108 km-long expessway that skirts the northern edge of Toronto. Opened October 14, 1997, it’s the world’s first all-electronic, open access toll highway - a so-called Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). Over 600,000 transponders, small units that attach to a vehicle’s rear-view mirror, have been distributed as of June 2004. Electronic sensors located on overhead gantrys log each vehicle’s 407 ETR entry and exit point. On exit, a green light on the transponder and four short beeps indicate the toll transaction has been successfully completed.
Plate denial is used for 407 ETR because it is an all-electronic, barrier-free highway with no traditional toll booths. Although there is no way to prevent vehicles from using the highway, users without the transponder that automatically tracks and charges for highway use have their license plates recorded and receive a bill in the mail.
407 International Inc. is the sole shareholder of 407 ETR. 407 International Inc. is owned by a consortium comprised of Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte, Macquarie Infrastructure Group and SNC-Lavalin.
