Texas Administrative Code › Title 43 - TRANSPORTATION › Part 1 - TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION › Chapter 27 - TOLL PROJECTS › Subchapter G - OPERATION OF DEPARTMENT TOLL PROJECTS › Section 27.86 - Veteran Discount Program

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) Purpose.
				  Transportation Code, §
										372.053 provides
				  that the department may establish a discount program for electronic toll
				  collection customers that must include free or discounted use of department
				  toll projects by an electronic toll collection customer whose account relates
				  to a vehicle registered under Transportation Code, §
										504.202 or §
										504.315(f)
				  or (g). This section implements §372.053.
(b) General. The commission, by minute order,
				  may adopt a policy defining the circumstances under which free or discounted
				  passage will be granted on department toll projects, in accordance with
				  Transportation Code, §
										372.053.
				  Subsections (c) - (f) of this section will apply to free or discounted use of
				  department toll projects by eligible vehicles, as defined by commission minute
				  order. For purposes of subsections (c) - (f) of this section, the term "owner"
				  means a veteran who is the registered owner of the eligible vehicle according
				  to the records of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles.
(c) Requirements. To receive free or
				  discounted use of department toll projects, the owner of an eligible vehicle
				  must establish an electronic toll collection customer account and register the
				  eligible vehicle and the tag affixed to that vehicle through a process
				  prescribed by the department.
(d)
				  Limitation. Free or discounted use of department toll projects is limited to
				  one eligible vehicle, except as provided by subsection (e) of this section.
(e) Exception for financial
				  hardship. The department will grant free or discounted use of department toll
				  projects for one additional eligible vehicle in accordance with this
				  subsection. The owner of that eligible vehicle must complete and submit to the
				  department an application, on a form approved by the department, accompanied by
				  documentation that establishes that the owner is enrolled in Medicaid, the
				  Qualified Medicare Beneficiary Program, the Specified Low-Income Medicare
				  Beneficiary Program, or the Qualifying Individual Program, or is qualified for
				  Supplemental Security Income. On receipt of an application containing all
				  required information, the department will grant the hardship exception. To
				  receive free or discounted use of department toll projects for the additional
				  eligible vehicle, the owner of the vehicle must register the vehicle and the
				  tag affixed to that vehicle through a process prescribed by the department. A
				  hardship exception granted under this subsection is valid for a three-year
				  period. To extend the exception, the owner must provide proof that the hardship
				  continues to exist not later than the third anniversary of the date the
				  hardship exemption was last granted by the department. Failure to provide proof
				  that the hardship continues to exist by that date results in expiration of the
				  hardship exception on that date.
(f) Tag fees. Notwithstanding any fee for
				  standard or specialty tags established under §
										27.82
				  of this subchapter (relating to Toll Operations), the department will provide
				  the tags required by this section, including replacement tags, at no cost to
				  the owner of an eligible vehicle that does not have an existing tag.