Q: Hey Dr. Honk! Part of the thetollroads.com‘s website has been down at least since Oct. 28, claiming “maintenance.” But that would be super uncommon for routine website maintenance — it’s normally scheduled for a late, overnight window or on the weekends, not a multi-day outage during weekdays.
– Steve Friedl, Irvine
A: It is unclear what is going on, Steve, but something is amiss.
Customers of the 241, 133, 261 and 73 toll roads in Orange County were told on the website that these customer chores were unavailable online:
- Account updates
- Paying a toll
- Trying to resolve a violation
- Setting up an account
- Getting a transponder
As of Thursday afternoon, Nov. 5, the problem persisted.
Honk reached out several times this week to the Transportation Corridor Agencies, which operates those toll roads, and asked what caused the disruption, if the system was hacked, and if anyone’s personal data was at risk.
Officials for the toll roads did not answer those questions.
“The system was taken offline by TCA last week,” said Michele Miller, an agency spokesperson, in an email. “Time extensions will be granted for customer payments. We appreciate customers’ patience while we continue to work to get the online customer account and payment portal and The Toll Roads app available for self-help use.”
An alternative for the chores is to call the toll agency at 949-727-4800, or go to the Customer Service Walk-In Center at 125 Pacifica in Irvine; it is open 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays.
Miller said she would update us here, when the system is back up.
Honk will try to figure out what happened.
Q: In 2023, the Department of Motor Vehicles closed its office in Anaheim on Lincoln Avenue. So here it is a couple of years later, and the building still has its DMV signs. Why doesn’t the DMV take down the signs off of the building and out of the parking lot?
– Mario Luna, Anaheim
A: Honk slipped on his deerstalker hat, similar to the one worn by his hero Sherlock Holmes, and rang up the DMV.
“The former Anaheim DMV office was in a leased facility,” Ronald Ongtoaboc, a DMV spokesman, told him via email. “The DMV no longer has rights to the building. Questions about signage should be directed to the property owner.”
Then Sherlock Honk hopped into the Honkmobile a recent night and visited the site.
The ex-DMV building sits back from the street, in a small retail center. The “DMV” sign on the building was darkened. Small signs that even Honk could pry off pretty easily were on columns, offering office hours. The office was clearly vacant.
But out on Lincoln, a brightly lit sign for the Anaheim West Plaza lists a couple of tenants — or in the case of the DMV, a former one.
Jeff Helm, the real estate broker for the property, said the DMV got out of the leasing contract early.
“They didn’t do anything,” he said. “They just got up and left.”
His firm is working with prospective new tenants, and if that is successful, the signs would ostensibly change.
HONKIN’ FACT: Los Angeles International Airport is No. 1 for “best major airports for avoiding travel disruptions,” according to Consumer Affairs. “Cancellations are relatively rare, but when one does happen, there are around 5.68 other flights heading to the same destination on a given day.”
To ask Honk questions, reach him at honk@ocregister.com. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk. Twitter: @OCRegisterHonk