Thruway to switch to cashless setup

Sometime in November, depending on the weather and how the testing goes, the state Thruway will become totally cashless.

That means the Thruway’s toll booths will be empty and tolls will be assessed by gantries, or structures built above the superhighway at exits along the 570-mile system. The actual toll booths will be removed later, however, and that process could take a while.

The exact date for the switch, which is set to take place all at once, hasn’t been set but the change is the culmination of a years-long effort to eliminate the old-style toll booths, a trend seen in other states as well.

The switchover won’t affect tolls upstate. However, tolls at the Mario M. Cuomo bridge, which connects Rockland and West

chester counties over the Hudson River, are proposed to increase from $4.75 to $5.25 in 2021, although there is a commuter discount as well.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said that upstate tolls should remain unchanged through 2022.

“Customers with a NY EZpass will not see an increase,” Thruway spokesman John Dougherty said in an email. Those with E-zpass transponders from other states will see a 15 percent increase, however.

For motorists without EZpass, driving costs will increase sharply according to the latest proposals which still need approval by the Thruway board of directors.

Non-e-zpass drivers will get their toll bills mailed to them after cameras on the gantries record their vehicles at the Thruway entrance and exit ramps.

Those bills will likely be 30 percent higher than tolls for those with E-zpass and will include a $2 surcharge. The idea is to get as many drivers as possible on the E-zpass system.

In 2019 almost 79 percent, or 211,076,553 Thruway trips, were paid with E-zpass.

And historically, E-zpass sales have risen in areas where the Thruway has already built gantries and instituted cashless tolling, according to Dougherty.

The Thruway Authority will host three virtual public hearings regarding the conversion and proposed toll increases.

They will be from 2-4 p.m. Oct, 13; from 4-6, p.m. Oct. 14 and from 6-8 p.m. Oct. 15. They can be reached through links at thruway.ny.gov.

Individuals who do not wish to participate in the virtual public hearings may also submit comments to tollcomments@thruway.ny.gov.