This is a true scenario: A regular, average Joe driving on the Maine Turnpike realizes he has no money to pay the toll. He had borrowed his mom’s car, which had a Transpass.
Without realizing that the Transpass was no longer active, he went through the toll booth.
Exactly one week later, mom received by registered mail, return receipt requested, a bill from the Maine Turnpike Authority for $72. Breakdown: $2, amount due for toll, $50 civil penalty, $20 administrative fee.
Isn’t this the same Maine Turnpike Authority that allowed its employee to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars over a period of years without any oversight at all?
It appears to me that the new logo for the MTA should be “Squeeze it out of the little guy.”
Absolutely absurd.
Anita Lachapelle, Turner
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