OPINION AND ORDER Defendants Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (“TBTA”) and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (the “Port Authority”) are public authorities that oversee bridge and tunnel crossings in and around New York City. Those crossings sometimes become traffic bottlenecks, and the defendants aspire to manage them efficiently while also collecting vehicle tolls. Toll collection presents an ongoing challenge, and in 2019, the TBTA alone recorded more than twelve million tolling violations. Beginning in 2017, the two agencies began to implement a “cashless tolling” process for the collection of tolls. When a vehicle traverses a tolled crossing, a license plate reader records a toll, and sends a toll bill by mail to the address on file with the license plate holder’s home-state Department of Motor Vehicles (“DMV”). Vehicle owners also have the option of registering an E-ZPass account, in which case, an antenna communicates with a transponder tag affixed to the registrant’s vehicle and the amount of the toll is withdrawn from the E-ZPass account. Some crossings, such as the George Washington Bridge, have not yet fully transitioned to tolls by mail, and continue to offer cash-only toll lanes. Over periods of months or years, vehicles owned by the three plaintiffs in this case made multiple toll crossings without paying the mandatory tolls. Defendants sent multiple toll bills and violation notices to plaintiffs’ addresses on file with the Department of Motor Vehicles (“DMV”), to no avail. Plaintiffs’ outstanding tolls accumulated, as did the violation fees arising from their non-payment. The TBTA initially demanded $43,650 in fines from Richard Owens, $4,000 in fines from Mirian Rojas, and $1,000 from Koriszan Reese, while the Port Authority demanded $1,200 from Rojas and $1,700 from Reese. Ultimately, each plaintiff paid significantly reduced fines, and, in some instances, were given discounts on the payments of their outstanding tolls. Plaintiffs assert that their fines were grossly disproportional to their underlying violations, and, through 42 U.S.C. §1983, assert that defendants violated the prohibition against excessive fines contained in the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Plaintiffs also bring a claim of unjust enrichment against the TBTA. Discovery in now closed, and defendants move for summary judgment in their favor pursuant to Rule 56, Fed. R. Civ. P. To the extent that defendants urge that plaintiffs do not have Article III standing, their motions will be denied. On the issue of whether the fees are punitive and fall within Eighth Amendment scrutiny, plaintiffs have pointed to evidence that would permit a reasonable trier of fact to conclude that the TBTA’s fees are punitive in nature, but they have failed to do so as to the Port Authority’s fees, and the Port Authority’s motion will be granted. Finally, the Court concludes that no reasonable trier of fact could conclude that any of the fines paid by plaintiffs were grossly disproportional to the gravity of their underlying violations, and defendants’ summary judgment motions will be granted. See United States v. Bajakajian, 524 U.S. 321, 329 (1998). Defendants’ summary judgment motions will therefore be granted as to plaintiffs’ Eighth Amendment claims. Summary judgment also will be granted to the TBTA as to plaintiffs’ unjust enrichment claim. Accordingly, plaintiffs’ claims will be dismissed and judgment will be entered for the defendants. BACKGROUND. The Port Authority operates interstate tunnels and bridges between New York City and the State of New Jersey, including the George Washington Bridge, the Holland Tunnel and the Lincoln Tunnel. (PA 56.1 6; Pl. 56.1 Resp. 6.) The TBTA operates major New York City crossings that include the Queens Midtown Tunnel, the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. See 21. N.Y.C.R.R. §1021.3(b). New York law provides that every public authority that operates a bridge or tunnel facility is “authorized and empowered to impose monetary liability on the owner of a vehicle” for failure to comply with toll-collection regulations. N.Y. Pub. Auth. §2985(1). In certain circumstances, refusing or evading payment at a Port Authority crossing can be a misdemeanor, potentially subject to fines and imprisonment. (PA 56.1 8; Pl. 56.1 Resp. 8.) Defendants’ tolled crossings accept payment through E-ZPass, an electronic toll-collection system whereby a user registers an account and receives a designated transponder for the vehicle. (PA 56.1 10; Pl. 56.1 Resp. 10.) An antenna reads the transponder as the vehicle enters the toll lane and charges the toll to the vehicle’s funded E-ZPass account. (PA 56.1 10; Pl. 56.1 Resp. 10.) When a vehicle with an E-ZPass transponder passes through a cashless toll lane, the system processes the toll through the vehicle’s valid E-ZPass account associated with the transponder. (PA 56.1 14; Pl. 56.1 Resp. 14.) If the E-ZPass account has a negative balance, a notice of violation is sent to the vehicle’s registered owner, requesting payment of the unpaid toll and a $50 administrative fee for each unpaid toll transaction. (PA 56.1 15; Pl. 56.1 Resp. 15.) In addition to allowing drivers to pay tolls by E-ZPass, defendants began to implement a system for cashless toll collection in February 2017, known as “Tolls by Mail.” (PA 56.1 13; Pl. 56.1 Resp. 13.) If the vehicle does not have a valid E-ZPass transponder, the vehicle’s registered owner receives a toll bill for all new crossings, plus any late fees associated with a previously unpaid bill. (PA 56.1 16; Pl. 56.1 Resp. 16.) If toll bills remain unpaid, the late fees become violations, and additional fees are assessed. (PA 56.1 16; Pl. 56.1 Resp. 16.) It is undisputed that the three plaintiffs in this case made numerous toll crossings without making timely payment, eventually accumulating thousands of dollars in fines. Plaintiffs Rojas and Reese paid fines to both the Port Authority and TBTA, while plaintiff Owens paid fines only to the TBTA and was never fined by the Port Authority. Between 2016 and 2018, plaintiff Rojas’s vehicle traveled over the George Washington Bridge approximately thirty-two times. (PA 56.1 17; Pl. 56.1 Resp. 17.) Her vehicle did not have a valid E-ZPass transponder and the vehicle’s driver did not pay tolls in cash at the time of crossing. (PA 56.1 17; Pl. 56.1 Resp. 17.) At the time Rojas’s vehicle crossed, the George Washington Bridge had not yet transitioned to fully cashless tolling, and drivers without an E-ZPass had the option of paying tolls in a cash-only lane. (PA 56.1 11; Pl. 56.1 Resp. 11.) The Port Authority mailed notices of violation to a home address for Rojas in College Point, Queens, which was the address on file with the DMV. (PA 56.1
18-19; Pl. 56.1 Resp.
