MDX Miami-Dade Expressway Authority web site
Florida Department of Transportation
Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners web site
Kendall Federation of Home Homeowner Associations
Vehicle Classification – The Road To Fair Tolling
FairTolling.com – Taking our idea of toll rate “roll back” to a national audience
Real Time Bus Tracker – South Florida – A great idea!
Ordinance No. 94-215 – The Document that created MDX(Miami-Dade Expressway Authority)
Florida Beautification and Landscaping Program by Committee on Transportation
2008 Homestead Extension of Florida’s Turnpike (HEFT) Widening (South of Kendall Drive to SR 836)
http://www2.dot.state.fl.us/FloridaTrafficOnline/viewer.html
hello, this is the FDOT website that you can get all the traffic count on all Miami dade county roads
Do you have names of any lawyers defending random toll violations? We had an issue with sunpass transponder…then we relocated to Orlando and just received a collection notice for $700…are there lawyers taking cases for this stuff? We didn’t even get an invoice/ticket for the monthly charges/tolls/admin fees during our time in Miami…
I was assessed over $3000.00 for toll violations. This despite the fact that I showed up in court. I had all the appropiate registrations for my Toyata Prius. I had the 95 express decal in the front window. I had the HOV registration. The 95express decal does not display a registration date or an expiration date. When I called Sunpass to complain I was accused of being racist. 95express which is an outsourced company had no record of my registration. I pointed out to them that since I had the decal they must have registered my decal at some point. The Sunpass rep Derek Walsh who acts as attorney, judge, jury and executioner decides the appropiate amount of the fee. In my case he tricked me by changing the hearing date. When I went before the judge to ask for a rehearing he told me to just go ask Derek Walsh. When I went into the courtroom to ask that judge, Derek Walsh took the judge out of the room for an ex parte consultation. When she came back in she informed me that she could not deal with my case because it was not on the docket. I am a severely stretched homeowner who has been out of work for two years. Since I have such a large fee, my license has been suspended. I am smart enough to not drive. This makes looking for work impossible even if I could afford a car. I have filed another request to have this “fee” commuted to community service but I was not even given the courtesy of a reply from the traffic court. I have just enough on my plate, dealing with keeping my house out of foreclosure and looking for work. This $3,000.00 for toll violations is too too excessive. I have complained to everyone, but no one seems able to deal with it. sun pass tells me it is in the court system. So and so and so. I did not even know there were toll road activists until I read an article in New Times.
I live in the homestead area and travel to Miami five days a week for work . I just received a a letter from dare county courts charging me $928.00 in toll fees when I have an active transponder and a automatic recharge when it’s low . When I spoke to MDX I was told the the route I take is governed by two toll authorities (MDX) and (Sun pass
) and that they are not connected to each other so I’m bring charged from to different agencies while traveling the same distance . Who does that ? With today’s economy who can afford to railroaded for tolls.
I hope this comment will post without my having to sign up for some social network account …
Folks, I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore! We need to turn up the pressure on these career bureaucrats with a Massive, Concerted civil disobedience campaign! What I mean is: pick out key dates and encourage users (drivers) of the expressway to cover their plate (tag), hide it, spray it, use alternate routes, ride in tandem to cover each other’s tags from Big Brother’s high-speed cameras …
We NEED to take back our roads and our communities from these money hungry spendthrifts who might be in cahoots with the current administration (Federal Government) to do away with cars all together, or make it such that only the rich and well-to-do can afford to drive a car … They’re taxing us in myriad ways that even Carlos Garcia may not be aware of! The taxes on gasoline approach 25% already; they also get us on our registration renewals, and with the meter maids …
Lets organize! I’m telling these mediocre politicians and bureaucrats that this thing is bigger than ANY domestic issue! People may not care what our policy is in the Middle East, and whether we can balance the Federal budget, BUT they will care about this because it impacts their DAILY life, and takes away even more money from their already skinny wallets …
Let me hear back from you!
Santiago, Thanks for your comment. There is a lot of talk going around about a civil disobedience campaign. Lets keep talking. And, please everyone join our email list so we can communicate with you.
Dear “Adminboss”:
Wish I could speak with you face to face, but I understand you are a busy man and dedicated to the cause. Here are two more ideas that I have been pondering lately:
1. Unleash the beginning of a civil agitation campaign to DRAW attention to the tollmaggedon by placing volunteers at key entry points with signs urging motorists to use alternate, non-toll roads to get to work or home.
2. Have group demonstrations around the major toll points using loudspeakers, attractive females, shirtless bodybuilders or whatever it takes to get on the news and attract attention to this issue. Sadly, the ignorance level of the average motorist is high, and they probably feel like they can’t do anything
3. Demonstrate in front of the offices of all the commissioners who voted for this massive toll build up and put the fear of the voter in their corrupt minds …
4. Pick one day a month when we can alert motorists to refrain from using the Expressway at all, and other days when they will drive “plateless” through the system as a way to protest. If by chance they happen to get stopped, they can always tell the officer that someone must have stolen your license plate or something …
I have more where that came from … 🙂
Regards,
Just received another toll by plate $1.40 plus there FEE $5.00, WOW I use to have a sun pass until I noticed they were double dipping every month from my credit card! It is crazy how they can take a photo of your car/ tag and send you to collection within a week and force you to pay or they will hold your registration against you, not to say they are extorting money from everyone and they are 15 years behind in the expansion of the highways as well they took jobs away from people by putting the cameras in place. Where are we going , if you you use the toll lanes 1 time a month and you receive a bill for 4 times a month, what do you do? if you complain they tell you well we have your car and tag on camera and you are SCREWED .
More to comb!!!!!!
Richard,, living in MIA for 50 years, it,s getting worse
Please see the attached – I still own property in Kendall. I can’t see business practices such as that described below can help the image of the Miami community. Would appreciate you passing on my issue too. Thanks, William Tomecko, Homeowner, Village of Kendall
October 15, 2015
Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau
701 Brickell Ave Suite 2700
Miami, Florida 33131
To Whom It May Concern,
I wish to describe my experience renting a car in Miami Florida. Using Travelocity, I choose the least expensive rental company (Dollar Rent A Car) for a three day rental. The total rental cost was $88.08. When I got to the counter, the representative gave me a very hard sell to accept their insurance even though I was covered by my own car insurance company. I didn’t. After that, I noted that anytime I asked a question, he would answer by saying “the answer is in the contract I gave you.” I have lived and worked in Miami for 36 years and thought his behavior (unfortunately) wasn’t unusual for the locale.
The contract was printed on a three inch wide strip. The first 18 inches was printed In font type size 12 or greater, including the “Florida Notice to Renters” that describes rental insurance responsibilities of the renter. The font size then changes to size 8 which is the smallest available on many printers. For comparison sake, the following is font size 8 type:
This is not very easy for many senior citizens to read. (typed in size 8 font)
Twenty six inches (26) down the strip, (about in the middle), the “contract” describes Dollar Rental Car’s policy concerning the automated tolls common in Dade County. For each toll, the company will charge the toll fee along with a $15 dollar administrative fee. With other individuals waiting in line behind me, and the font type being so small, I admit I didn’t read the entire 48 inch (4 foot) contract.
One month after this $88.08 three day rental, I received a bill for $113.70. Of that total $8.70 represented the cost of the tolls and $ 105 dollars was in Dollar Rent A Car administrative fees. They actually indicated that Dollar Rent A Car provided me an administrative fee discount of $60.00 as their administrative fee total was actually $165.00.
I am paying this bill because I signed the contract. However, I do believe that this $15 administrative fee for each toll is remarkably excessive and I surmise that describing this practice 26 inches down the contract in font type size 8 is not accidental.
I am sending this note to you and a number of other Miami Dade County Florida governmental individuals and agencies. I continue to own a house in Kendall and I know how hard South Florida has worked to improve our image. This doesn’t help. I would request that you could warn the tourists of this questionable business practice.
Sincerely,
Does anyone know of a watch dog group that can assist our under served community to avoid FDOT from creating a 7-million dollar dangerous by design project in Lee County, without public involvement meetings. (NEPA)
It is very similar to the bridge project in the Keys, where their own feasibility study strongly suggested that the proposed project was not safe. One hundred percent of the neighbors I’ve discussed the project with are totally against it.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5c8uqrxy49ghhyn/AAAeCLt0SUnUg3CXApjpiQ-7a?dl=0