Lawsuit against TCA Seeks Constitutionality Ruling on Toll Road Collections

By Eric Heinz

In 2016, Penny Davidi Borsuk filed a lawsuit against the Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) demanding that the court find the methods in which the agencies collect tolls to be unconstitutional.

Now in U.S. District Court, the lawsuit is scheduled for a trial date in January, according to federal court records.

Helen Zeldes, the attorney working for the plaintiff, said some of the claims in the lawsuit include accusations of constitutional privacy violations, statutorily due process claims and constitutional client claims and California consumer law claims.

“Where we are right now is we have a trial date in January, and there’s currently a stay in place pending pre-trial mediation, and the parties are going to mediation before trial to try to resolve the matter,” Zeldes said.

The main claim Zeldes said the lawsuit seeks is to stop the dissemination of people’s personal identification used on The Toll Roads the TCA manages. Recently, several lawsuits were certified by the federal court to be tried as a class-action lawsuit.

Public affairs officials with the TCA said it is the organization’s policy to not comment on ongoing litigation.

The city of San Clemente will host a Toll Road forum from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 24, at the Community Center, located at 100 N. Calle Seville. The forum will include members of the City Council, TCA, Caltrans and Orange County Transportation Authority to discuss the latest environmental study draft documents related to the TCA’s proposed toll roads and managed lanes.