This is in the TU this morning: State Senate targets junk fees, consumer protection in legislative package
On the whole, these changes would be a good thing. I’ve long felt it goes against the basic tenets of the free-market that companies are allowed to advertise one price, and then do a switch at the last minute. If you can’t sell your product without that kind of dishonesty, you really shouldn’t be selling it at all.
But I am concerned (bemused?) by one of the changes surrounding “cashless” tolls. If the Thruway Authority is really owed a quarter billion dollars (yes, Billiion, with a “B”), the answer isn’t to make it easier for drivers to escape payment. The Thruway Authority has the license plate number of the car in question, which means that DMV has a valid address for the driver. If that address isn’t valid, that means the car isn’t really properly licensed to be driving in New York at all. The answer is to fine the owner of the car for failure to update their registration and for failure to pay the toll. The answer is not to just waive it away. Heck, you could just seize the car if payment can’t be made. (And before you point out that sometimes a person’s car is their livelihood, yes–you’re very smart. But the answer there is to improve our transportation infrastructure so that a person doesn’t have to own a car in order to participate in society, not to ignore their lack of responsibility.)
The ability to use cash to fund your EZ-Pass account is unequivocally a good thing. (I’m largely uncomfortable with the fact that New York and other states have outsourced toll collection to a private company.) And the warning around the expiring inspection sticker is neutral in my book. It’s definitely unnecessary. You can see the sticker on your windshield when you drive, and it’s very easy to see when it will expire (especially since it’s by month, not an exact day). If you have trouble seeing the sticker, you really shouldn’t be operating a car in the first place. The addition of a grace period doesn’t fundamentally alter anything. It just shifts the deadline from the last day of the month to the fifth day of the following month.