TIJUANA.- The "Movement Against Toll Charges for Residents at the Playas de Tijuana Toll Booth" is pushing to eliminate the toll charge for those living in the coastal zone in Tijuana south of the toll booth. The movement will attempt to obtain an exemption via a legal remedy called a collective amparo, that is essentially a class-action injunction on constitutional grounds.

The group, which is being advised by lawyers of TLC Asociados, will be filing documents with the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation in order to seek an exemption from the toll booth charge for residents. At present, residents south of the toll booth who pay Tijuana property taxes are able to obtain a fifty percent discount, which must be renewed each year after accrediting legal residence in Tijuana.

[p]Nevertheless, the toll charge has long been disapproved of by residents who must pay to get from their homes to work, school, and other places in the city where they reside. Some parents pay the toll charge five times a day, five days a week, as they take their kids to and from school in Playas de Tijuana or Tijuana.

On February 7th, more than 380 residents of the area met in Real del Mar to move the initiative forward. Signatures are currently being collected for this cause, which the group insists is not to eliminate the toll booth altogether, but rather just exempt residents who currently qualify for the discount from having to pay the toll.

The legal issue at the core of the petition is the right of "free transit" for residents of Tijuana via the Tijuana-Rosarito cuota. Legal counsel for the group additionally indicates that the toll charge has long-past its intended purpose, which was to finance the 1968 Olympics in Mexico. In 2011, the payment of the license plate "road tax", which was also intended to finance the Olympics, was eliminated after citizen push back. Until then, the "road tax" was paid upon renewal of license tags each year and equated to more fees than the license tags themselves.

"In addition, the toll booth charge to a commuter traveling within the same municipality is a violation of individual rights as put forth in article 11 of the Mexican Constitution", according to the group. Residents of this area could in theory travel to Tijuana via the free road, but this would require them to travel south more than eight miles to Rosarito, and then switch back north onto the free road. Essentially, the toll road is the only viable option for most residents that wish to travel to Tijuana.

Lawyers for the group insist that legislators in other places in the country have achieved collective "amparos" against the toll charges which has resulted in commuters not being charged if they officially prove that they live in the affected zone. Exemptions have been put in place for residents that do not have alternative toll-free roads within their city, such as is the case for these Tijuana residents.

The group is inviting all residents over eighteen that can officially prove their residence in this area to sign the petition.

Those interested are invited to call (664) 634-0189 and/or follow the Facebook group "No al cobro para residentes en la caseta de cuota de Playas de Tijuana".

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