Allegheny County's court administrator apologized and asked for patience today after a new Web site and phone lines for traffic ticket scofflaws were overwhelmed yesterday.

Ray Billotte announced yesterday that 37,000 scofflaws who had not paid tickets and fines going back several years would have until Nov. 20 to pay them or be subject to arrest warrants.

The county, he said, would make the information available only by Web site; no notices would be mailed, so people would have to check whether they are on the list.

In a statement today, Mr. Billotte said, "Although the court took steps to accommodate the anticipated increase in activity on the Web site, actual demand exceeded initial estimates. During the height of Web site activity [yesterday}, the Court experienced more than 20 "hits" per second, causing significant delay in response times.

"We apologize for any inconveniences caused by this problem and ask for continued patience while the court's information technology staff resolves these issues."

First Published: October 17, 2007, 8:45 p.m.