{"id":391596,"date":"2026-07-09T03:57:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T03:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/391596\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T03:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T03:57:11","slug":"i-havent-driven-in-sf-in-20-years-southern-california-woman-plagued-by-fastrak-violations-sent-to-the-wrong-license-plate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/391596\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I haven’t driven in SF in 20 years!’ Southern California woman plagued by FasTrak violations sent to the wrong license plate"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES (KGO) — Imagine getting seven Bay Area FasTrak violations.<\/p>\n

But you don’t live here. And you haven’t driven in the Bay Area in decades!<\/p>\n

One Southern California driver says FasTrak kept sending violations to the wrong person in that exact scenario.<\/p>\n

Toll agencies have used camera-based enforcement for decades, and the one involved here says it’s currently updating its aging equipment and software to help improve accuracy. But the Southern California driver says she was still cited wrong — seven times.<\/p>\n

Jilian Parker has lived in Los Angeles for 40 years.<\/p>\n

“I’ve never lived in the Bay Area,” she told 7 On Your Side.<\/p>\n

So she was shocked when toll violations from the Bay Area started showing up in her mailbox.<\/p>\n

“I received two violations in the mail. I was like, ‘Oh Gosh!’ So, I thought it was from one of my cars down here. And then, I’m like, ‘No, that’s my Bronco!’ And then I look and see, ‘Oh, that’s Bay Area!'” she said.<\/p>\n

FasTrak mailed the first two violations on April 7.<\/p>\n

And her first thought: “I haven’t driven in SF in 20 years!”<\/p>\n

When Parker looked closer, she found her real license plate number on the notice.<\/p>\n

The photo, however, shows a different plate!<\/p>\n

“I can see very closely — they take a picture of the license plate,” she said.<\/p>\n

One letter is clearly off.<\/p>\n

“So the AI thinks this Q is an O,” Parker said.<\/p>\n

Parker called the Violation Processing Department to get it fixed.<\/p>\n

“The first lady is so nice. She says, ‘You shouldn’t receive any more of these, because we will flag the system, so you won’t receive those'” she said.<\/p>\n

Parker says she heard that promise — not once. Not twice. But three times.<\/p>\n

“So I said, ‘It sounds like you’ve resolved it on your end?'” Parker said. “And she’s like, ‘Yes, you’re good!’ Come to find out, I received five more toll evasions.”<\/p>\n

From April to May, Parker received a total of seven toll violations for trips along I-580 Express Lanes in Alameda County.<\/p>\n

It was $73.50 that she shouldn’t have to pay.<\/p>\n

So, she called again.<\/p>\n

“And the lady says, ‘Oh, we’ll take care of it, but it’s probably best that you change your license plate. Because there’s nothing we can do,'” Parker said. “Well, that doesn’t seem right. Why should I have to go do this?”<\/p>\n

Parker has a digital license plate, which is more expensive to change. Not to mention, it’s a time-consuming fix for a problem that wasn’t her fault.<\/p>\n

The Bay Area Toll Authority, which manages FasTrak, tells 7 On Your Side that a contractor for the Alameda County Transportation Commission (or ACTC) operates the license plate recognition system for the I-580 and I-680 express lanes.<\/p>\n

According to ACTC, artificial intelligence is not used in its systems, but it’s required to achieve 99.5% accuracy for all image-based toll transactions. The commission admitted in Parker’s case: “Its system consistently interpreted a license plate incorrectly while also assigning a high level of confidence to the reading. As a result, the transaction proceeded to be processed through FasTrak.”<\/p>\n

Each violation notice lists a link to dispute the charge. But as Parker experienced, trying to get to that point proved to be difficult.<\/p>\n

In fact, we couldn’t find clear instructions on FasTrak’s main page explaining how to report a case of mistaken identity.<\/p>\n

The county toll agency told 7 On Your Side its teams are working to minimize these errors by doing things like not processing transactions unless they meet a certain threshold or require review when multiple plate numbers are associated with one trip.<\/p>\n

In the end, Parker says FasTrak recognized the error and helped to address it. As for how often this happens? The agency says “it’s rare.”<\/p>\n

Last year, there were more than 72,000 disputes, out of the nearly 24 million toll invoices received annually. That’s about 0.29% of cases with license plate image errors.<\/p>\n

And looking ahead, ACTC’s tech upgrades are expected to be completed by this winter.<\/p>\n

Take a look at more stories and videos by 7 On Your Side.<\/a><\/p>\n

7OYS’s consumer hotline is a free consumer mediation service for those in the San Francisco Bay Area. We assist individuals with consumer-related issues; we cannot assist on cases between businesses, or cases involving family law, criminal matters, landlord\/tenant disputes, labor issues, or medical issues. Please review our FAQ here<\/a>. As a part of our process in assisting you, it is necessary that we contact the company \/ agency you are writing about. If you do not wish us to contact them, please let us know right away, as it will affect our ability to work on your case. If we are able to assist you, we will reach back out.<\/p>\n

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