Authority cracking down on toll-dodgers on Saint John Harbour Bridge

Decades of turning a blind eye to toll-dodgers is ending at the Saint John Harbour Bridge as managers crack down on the unsafe practice that is costing the authority upwards of $50,000 annually.

Each day roughly 30,000 vehicles pass over the city's Harbour Bridge. Most pay the 50-cent toll. However, an estimated 200 drivers daily skip the toll and many of them are crashing through the gates.

Ken Anthony, general manager of the Saint John Harbour Bridge Authority, said every time another driver dodges the toll, it puts his staff and other motorists in danger.

For instance, he said, when a motorist damages a toll gate, a commissionaire must cross several lanes of fast-moving traffic to fix it.

For the bridge's 40-year life, the authority has tolerated the people who don't toss in their toll, but that is changing. Anthony said a video audit system has been installed and he is using technology to catch offenders.

"Every transaction is videotaped from three or four different angles and from the video tape we can get the licence numbers and we'll follow up with the registered owner of the vehicle by the licence number," Anthony said.

Anthony said bridge staff and the Saint John Police have the authority to issue their own tickets. Failing to pay the 50-cent toll could result in a $50 fine.

The bridge authority said it is not going after drivers whose electronic passes do not work or whose coins don't register and they hit the gates.

"Those aren't the people we're talking about here. We're talking about people who habitually and deliberately go through without paying," he said.

Pat Clarke, a bridge commissionaire, said he's seen it all when people are trying to evade the toll. Clarke said the steps people take are increasingly dangerous.

"Going under the gate on a motorcycle, things like that are so, so dangerous, it's just crazy," he said.