The COVID Project
Context, not an orderThis record is guidance or an announcement kept for context. It is not counted among the orders in force.
The record
- Jurisdiction
- Maryland (all MDTA toll facilities; I-95 travel plazas) · Maryland
- Level
- State
- Authority
- MDTA toll-enforcement discretion under the state of emergency; the Governor's restaurant orders for the travel plazas
- Issued
- 2020-03-27 Mar. 27, 2020
- Effective
- 2020-03-17 (measures put in place) as stated Mar. 27, 2020 (read as 2020-03-17)
- End
- Toll-enforcement forbearance tied to 30 days after the end of the state of emergency (Maryland's emergency ended July 1, 2021 with a grace period to Aug. 15, 2021 under Order 21-06-15-01); carry-out-only plazas until the Governor's dine-in reopening (June 12, 2020, Order 20-06-10-01) (read as 2021-07-01)
- In force
- Mar. 17, 2020 to July 1, 2021
- Quarters
- 2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Business closureCourts and public officesOther
- Addressees
- video-toll and cash customers (Notices of Toll Due paused)
- E-ZPass discount-plan holders
- travel plaza users and concessionaires (carry-out only)
- Functions reached
- DR drivers (I-95 travel plazas carry-out only; cashless tolls)
- CB customer access (service centers closed; concessionaires' dining rooms closed)
- TV travel
- Character
- context
- Collection
- State transport, ports and transit authorities AGY-ST-TRANSPORT-PORTS-TRANSIT
Operative words
E-ZPass Customer Service Centers statewide are closed until further notice.... During COVID-19, to assist our cash and video toll customers who have not yet transitioned to E-ZPass, the MDTA has paused mailing all Notices of Toll Due (NOTD) and has paused assessing civil penalties on unpaid NOTDs until 30 days after Maryland's state of emergency is lifted.... Any referrals of unpaid tolling accounts to the Central Collections Unit and to the Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration (MDOT MVA) for registration flagging are on hold until 30 days after the state of emergency is lifted. All-electronic (cashless) tolling remains underway... On I-95, the Chesapeake House... and Maryland House... travel plazas are open 24/7 for food, fuel and restrooms. Food is available for carry-out ONLY.
Enforcement
Toll civil penalties and MVA registration flags suspended (forbearance); carry-out-only rule under the Governor's order penalties (Pub. Safety § 14-114(c))
Notes
Authority operating rule tied by its terms to the duration of Maryland's state of emergency (which ran to July 1, 2021), with the Governor's dine-in closure applied to the I-95 travel plazas. Implementing content for the plaza rule.
Retrieval noteRendered live copy (2026 site calendar) of the MDTA release 'Submitted by Tamory Winfield on Fri, 03/27/2020,' 'FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 27, 2020'. The filename date (Apr. 9) is wrong; date_issued is Mar. 27, 2020. Right-margin characters are clipped in the text layer; the sentences are recoverable and are quoted as recovered.