EP One-Stop Shop Now Issues Toll Tags

Good news: El Paso's One-Stop Shop will now issue TollTags and accept payments for the CÉSAR CHÁVEZ EXPRESS TOLL LANES. This follows the unanimous vote by the Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority to end its relationship with payday predatory lenders. HERE is my last post on the matter. Below is the complete city press release:

Contact:

Raymond  L. Telles, Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority, (915) 212-1072

Javier C. Camacho, City Development Department, (915) 212-1615 or (915) 838-5578

One-Stop Shop, 811 Texas Avenue, (915) 212-0104

 

The City of El Paso’s One-Stop Shop will now issue TollTags and accept payments for the CÉSAR CHÁVEZ EXPRESS TOLL LANES

 

EL PASO, TX – El Paso drivers can now sign up for and replenish their TollTag accounts at the City of El Paso’s One Stop Shop – a convenient location for making payments for various City of El Paso services in downtown El Paso, including permits, licenses and now César Chávez toll bills.

 

The One-Stop Shop, located at 811 Texas Avenue, will allow commuters to acquire and replenish their TollTags as well as make payments for their “Pay-By-Mail” toll bills all in person. The One-Stop Shop accepts cash, checks, money orders and major credit cards.  There is a processing fee for all credit cards which is 1.98% of the payment amount.

 

The César Chávez Express Toll Lanes, the first project of its kind in El Paso, consist of one express lane in each direction of the nine-mile Loop 375  Border Highway corridor from US 54 to Zaragoza.  The goal of the express toll lanes is to alleviate congestion from I-10 and provide a safer, more reliable commute. Drivers are encouraged to sign up for a TollTag account for regular use of the toll lanes, as the most efficient and least expensive way to use the lanes. TollTag users can sign up online at www.EPexpress.org, by calling (915) 351-8655 or now, in person at the One-Stop Shop.

 

With the automated TollTag account, the toll gantry will charge between 40 cents – 50 cents depending on where the driver entered the lanes or a total of ninety cents for use of the entire nine-mile corridor.  Those without TollTags will have their license plates recorded by high-speed cameras that provide digital data to toll administrators who use the data to calculate and deliver periodic toll bills.  The non-TollTag process is referred to as the “Pay-By-Mail” option.

 

A great resource to get answers for most frequently asked question regarding TollTags, violations, and fees is to visit the César Chávez Express Toll Lanes website at www.EPexpress.org.

 

For more information, contact Raymond L. Telles at (915) 212-1072 or the One-Stop Shop at (915) 212-0104

 

About the CRRMA

The CRRMA was created in March of 2007 by act of the El Paso City Council.  Since then, the organization has moved quickly to become an experienced and productive partner in developing the transportation solutions necessary for the El Paso region.  For more information on the history of CRRMA and its projects, please visit CRRMA.org. 

CRRMA Unanimously Ends Relationship with Predatory Lenders

By a unanimous vote at it meeting this morning, the Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority directed Executive Director, Raymond L. Telles "to issue written notice to the CRRMA's back-office service providers [North Texas Tollway Authority and the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority] to end their acceptance of cash payments at local retail locations for the César Chávez Express Toll Lanes." The local retail locations in question is the payday lender, ACE Cash America. 

The same motion also asked the Director to "continue working with the City of El Paso's One-Stop Shop for acceptance of cash payments for the same toll lanes.

Bottom line: the CRRMA unanimously did the moral thing - they ended their relationship (although indirect through other tollway authorities) with a company in an industry that too often victimizes the most financially vulnerable in society. The need for the cash option, as Director Telles explained, is that El Paso has a large population of people who use cash only. Also, the cash option is the least expensive means to purchase a toll tag.

According to CRRMA Chair, Scott McLaughlin, the CRRMA will work toward using other local retailers. Besides taking cash payments, authorized dealers will need to be able to set-up customer accounts with the NTTA. 

Mr. Telles' presentation to the Board can be seen HERE.

If you emailed a Board member, please thank them for listening and responding to El Pasoans regarding this moral issue. Contact info is HERE.

Finally, consider that, except for one vote, the CRRMA and City Council unanimously agreed to do something about payday lenders. The one lone vote came from a man who never says anything at City Council meetings but apparently will speak-up for predatory lenders: District 2 Representative Larry Romero. 

No CRRMA Meeting on Wednesday

The Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority will not meet this Wednesday, January 8, in spite of the fact that they publicly advertise a schedule of their regular meeting dates. (Their web site flashes in red that they meet the second Wednesday of each month at 9 a.m. on the 1st Floor of City Hall.) 

The word is out that they may meet on Wednesday, January 22nd, or wait until their next "regularly" scheduled meeting date which is February 12th. elpasonaturally will keep an eye on this and let you know in plenty of time so that you can attend and speak out regarding their use of a predatory lender to collect toll tags paid in cash by those without credit cards - the perfect victims for predatory lenders.

By law, the CRRMA must give 72 hours of advanced notice prior to a meeting.

The Huffington Post may be listening to elpasonaturally because they devoted a story about the El Paso situation. I posted a link to it on Facebook, but go HERE to read it.

Tomorrow, at its regularly scheduled meeting, the El Paso City Council will review a delayed ordinance which would "regulate" payday predators such as the business contracted to do the work for the CRRMA. The current Council delayed the beginning that ordinance would take effect to January 16th. The ordinance had been introduced by progressive, Susie, Byrd, during her last term on Council. The current and more reactionary, recidivist Council (and atavistic judging from their behavior) may decide to rescind the ordinance. They can and hopefully will allow it to take effect on the 16th. The El Paso Times story is HERE. Read yesterday's editorial board piece urging Council to affirm the payday loan rules already passed. Also read today's excellent guest editorial by Larry Garcia. Garcia well chronicles the advantage taken of families in financial crisis. 

So, while we wait for the CRRMA to meet again, we can do better than reading their canned responses to the public. Let's enjoy instead a dramatic reading of the immortal poem, The Spider and the Fly:

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.