South Bay Expressway Bogus Notice of Toll Evasion San Diego, California

We did implement the Monthly Minimum Toll Policy in September 2009. This fee only
affects FasTrak accounts who use less than $7.00 per month. Most account holders don't have to worry about this fee because it amounts to around one trip per week but those who are infrequent travelers are charged the difference between their total amount of tolls used and $7.00 for the month.

SBX FasTrak accounts save our customers time and money, but they cost us money to
service and maintain. When a SBX FasTrak account is rarely or never used, we still have to provide a FasTrak transponder and service the account through our Customer Service
Center, website and other account services. Instead of asking other customers to
subsidize these lower usage accounts through higher tolls, we think a Monthly Minimum
Toll policy is fair to everyone. Our Monthly Minimum Toll policy is similar to policies in effect on other Southern California toll roads.

Also note that we continue to work on ways of improving our Automated Cash Machines
so that all customers, FasTrak or cash, have a great experience while traveling South Bay Expressway.

That's fine if it's dismissed and I await the outcome of my contested violation.

I actually was a Fastrack customer and as I still visit friends that live in the southbay it was convenient as you say...however, when I moved, your company started charging me when I didn't use it enough. With that change in policy, I turned my transponder in. Not sure what the rational is for that but it left me no choice but to use the toll booths and here we are today.

Hi Keith. Sorry to hear about your experience. Unfortunately, sometimes the Automated Cash Machines do become jammed - usually from misuse. We have alarms that let us know when there is a problem. We also have a Maintenance Team who patrols and services all the toll ramps to keep these occurrences to a minimum.  Sometimes it does take them a few minutes to arrive and unclog the jam. When the machine does not receive a toll payment, for any reason, it takes a picture of your license plate and that is why you received a citation.

Since you've already received a violation, you took the correct steps by filling out the
back of the form as indicated to contest the citation.  From there, we will go back and
review our tapes and machine reports to confirm that there was, in fact, an error with the machine. If so, then we'll cancel the violation. You can always check on the status of your contested violation on our website at www.southbayexpressway.com or by using our automated phone system and calling 619-661-7070.

If you plan on using South Bay Expressway frequently, you might want to consider
getting a FasTrak

account - it is the easiest way to pay for your tolls:  you won't have to stop at toll booths or fumble with change again. You can sign up on our website or call us to open an account. 

Sometimes mistakes do happen, but we're looking forward to correcting it for you.