CRRMA Issues Canned Response

As many of you are now discovering and telling me, the Board members of the Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority (CRRMA) are responding to your email concerns about their relationship with a predatory lender with a canned response. Here it is and you will recognize it:

"Thank you for your email  and your feedback – I intend to put the issue of how the tags are distributed and tolls are paid on our January Agenda and we will discuss and make any changes at that time.  We have been discussing the possibility of other physical locations to process tags or accept payments and I hope to have an update at that meeting as well –  

"Since our inception in 2007 we have been involved in over 400 Million dollars of regional projects and our board has always worked and will continue to work to make the best decisions for the region -

"Below is a bit of information on the CRRMA and our relationship with the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA)–

"The CRRMA is a small, relatively young organization that is opening its first toll facility on January 8th– the Cesar Chavez Express Toll Lanes, which consists of a nine-mile, managed lane in each direction on El Paso’s Loop 375. While developing this project, we looked to partner with a tolling agency in Texas to provide back office services (essentially, the toll processing and collection services associated with transponder transactions). In the end, we partnered with the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) - a tolling entity with over 850 miles of toll lanes in the DFW area, processing over 1,400,000 transactions a day. This partnership simply means that the NTTA will process only those transactions occurring on the express toll lanes that arise from the use of a transponder (i.e. TollTag).

"We asked the NTTA to provide online, mobile app, phone and cash alternatives for El Paso transponder users. The NTTA has an existing relationship with ACE in DFW, which provides a cash payment option. So, in order for El Paso users to be able to pay cash for transponder transactions in El Paso (as opposed to payments online, by phone or mail), ACE was the only option available to us – just as it is for users in DFW. The CRRMA does not have a direct partnership with ACE – rather, ACE will be providing these services through their relationship with NTTA, but only as they relate to transponder transactions paid in person with cash.

"You can find more information about the various alternatives at www.epexpress.org -


"Thank you again for your email and your feedback – I do appreciate you taking the time to provide your comments."

To be fair, they may be receiving quite a few emails regarding their policy to sell toll tags through a predatory lender. However, it shows that, as a Board, they are circling the wagons. 

It is true that they did not directly contract with the predatory lender. They contracted with the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) which contracts with the lender. That, however, is no excuse. The CRRMA's actions still result in people who are (for whatever reason) vulnerable financially. Would these same Board members send people into the clutches of a human trafficker (read slaver) or a crack cocaine or meth dealer? Of course not. Yet, morally, there is little difference. 

Their canned response says that the predatory lender "was the only option available" to them so that those who pay only with cash can purchase the tags. This just isn't true. In the City of El Paso there are a number of supermarkets, convenience stores, dollar discount stores, etc. that take cash!

Although there is no published agenda for next Wednesday's meeting, the canned response does read: "I intend to put the issue of how the tags are distributed and tolls are paid on our January Agenda and we will discuss and make any changes at that time." (I guess each board member intends to put the matter on the agenda.) It will be good for many of us to be there next Wednesday morning, to speak to that agenda item and to hold their feet to the fire. Information about that meeting can be found HERE.

In the meantime, boycott the purple lanes:

Click on image to enlarge.

Also, know that the El Paso City Council will revisit its ordinance limiting predatory lenders this coming Tuesday, January 7, 2014. It is Item #5 on the Regular Agenda. Know that the CRRMA is a BOARD of the City of El Paso created by an ordinance passed by City Council. They are no different than the Open Space Advisory Board or the Parks and Recreation Board. They are a Board appointed by your City Council. You may want to address City Council on the subject of predatory lenders during the discussion of Item #5. 

One last suggestion, if you have received the canned response or get one eventually, reply by sending an email with a link to this post.

If you want to contact a CRRMA Board member, go HERE.