12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, October 18, 2026
Resolved
THE ISSUE: Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport was billing express-lot parkers who paid with TollTags more than they owed.
THE FIX: In June, D/FW told Problem Solver that a broken data link was failing to pass information along, and staff were working to repair it.
As it happened, the express parking system's troubles were both widespread and persistent.
A common case: a driver parked in the express lots, which now cost $12 a day, but was billed the higher terminal rate of $17 a day.
Since these drivers paid automatically with TollTags, most didn't spot the overcharge right away.
Records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show that TollTag users began having trouble a few months after the express lots opened in August 2007. Roughly a year later, the situation had grown worse.
“We are having some major issues with TollTag at the express lots and it is causing a lot of issues with guests,” one airport staffer wrote in November 2008. “Can anyone tell me where we are as far as getting this taken care of?”
Not very far, as it turned out. The system was still jammed that spring. By then, staff had issued so many refunds that they listed “historical failure” as the reason on reimbursement forms.
In all, more than 1,500 people received about $40,000 in refunds during 2008 and through June 2009, based on an analysis of the documents given to Problem Solver.
Airport spokesman David Magana said an internal audit covering the same 18 months the newspaper reviewed turned up more people who were owed refunds but hadn't asked for one.
“It was fewer than 100,” Magana said. “We went back and settled their accounts without being asked.”
In his written refund request, one man told the airport: “I was tired, paid with a credit card and did not notice I was charged $51 (3 days at $17 each) until I started to pull away from the attendant.”
Terry Elson of Garland only discovered the overcharge while working on his business expenses. He emailed the airport for a refund and made several phone calls. He said he did eventually get his money back, but it wasn't easy.
“It never is when you’re trying to get money back,” said the information technology consultant.
The airport was working to fix the bugs. Over the 1 ½ years of records the newspaper reviewed, 49 work-order tickets were issued for various system troubles.
The most frequently cited problem was that the computerized TollTag readers in the express north lot couldn't send information to the main toll booths. Other parking-system issues existed too. The airport had to replace its fiber optic line, reader heads and the equipment that registers when a new car enters an express lot.
“We’ve put in software fixes, gate fixes, reader fixes,” Magana said. “Now, we also have manual intervention. There is a person at express who records plates and stamps tickets, so that way the airport can compare what is in the lot to what the system thinks is in the lot.”
All that effort is finally paying off. In September, the airport received no refund requests.
“By hook and by crook, we think we’ve solved it,” Magana said.
Now the airport wants to replace its whole parking automation system, which dates to the ’80s. This is the second try at replacing it. When D/FW attempted it before, “the vendor couldn’t get their arms around the complexity,” Magana said.
The airport will put the job out for bid again in December. In the meantime, Magana said anyone who deserves a refund should let the airport know.
“If anyone still has paperwork that shows we didn’t charge them correctly, please contact us, and we’ll gladly refund them if we need to,” he said.
Jeff Johns of Murphy, who first wrote to Problem Solver about the issue, said he has noticed the airport now stamps his parking ticket with an “Express North” mark.
“This was nice to see this change implemented. The only thing I would say is that the ink stamp solution was so simple, it even surprised me,” he said. “I’m pleased with the resolution and glad to see that they finally addressed this for everyone.”
About this column
Every week, I track down experts to answer your questions or talk with authorities to get your problems resolved.
Find DMN Problem Solver’s answers here each week, and also on the DMN Investigates blog, dallasnews.com/
investigatesblog.
