Out-of-state drivers owe Maryland more than $818 million in tolls and fees, audit finds

$818.1 million. That’s how much the Maryland Transportation Authority has failed to collect in unpaid tolls and penalties from out-of-state vehicles as of January 2026, according to an audit published last week.

Officials with the Maryland General Assembly’s Office of Legislative Audits determined that the agency didn’t take “available actions” to collect fees from out-of-state drivers, according to the audit.

About $668.7 million — or 82% of the outstanding tolls and penalties — had not been paid for more than a year, the audit noted. About $386.3 million had been outstanding for more than three years.

Drivers from Virginia have racked up the most in unpaid tolls and penalties, followed by those from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Florida and North Carolina.

Under reciprocity agreements with other states, the agency could have asked other jurisdictions to suspend drivers’ vehicle registrations for unpaid tolls in Maryland, the audit found. The MDTA also did not contract a third-party collection agency to help collect unpaid tolls, according to the report.

Officials can intercept state tax refunds from Marylanders who don’t pay tolls. Those without E-ZPass receive notices at the address associated with the vehicle’s license plate.

But there’s no similar process for nonresident drivers, the agency said in response to the audit, and collecting unpaid tolls from out-of-state drivers requires “significant time to implement.”

The agency also rsaid that toll enforcement can be hard to implement because regulations and financial penalties vary significantly across states. State officials are working to establish more agreements with neighboring states, including Pennsylvania, Virginia and New York. The agency is also joining agreements that would allow electronic processing of toll transactions in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado.

The audit, which spanned March 2020 through May 2025, was delayed by a year because of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse.

MDTA didn’t immediately respond to a request for additional comment on the audit.