E-ZPass toll for Hudson River spans rises May 1
Drivers who use E-ZPass will pay higher tolls to cross the Hudson River in the Mid-Hudson region starting next month.
As of May 1, the cost of crossing the river eastbound on the five spans operated by the New York State Bridge Authority will increase from $1.35 to $1.45 for passenger cars using E-ZPass, while the cash price will remain $1.75, the rate in effect since last August.
The May 1 increase is the second in a series of toll hikes planned by the authority, which operates the Kingston-Rhinecliff, Mid-Hudson, Rip Van Winkle, Newburgh-Beacon and Bear Mountain bridges.
The Bridge Authority has said the increased revenues will be used primarily to finance the redecking of the westbound span
of the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge. That bridge, which connects the southern Dutchess County to Orange County, is the authority’s busiest span and is considered an important connector in the Northeast highway network, carrying Interstate 84 over the Hudson River.
In an email Monday, authority spokesman Chris Steber said the roughly $90 million project on the bridge was awarded to Yonkers Contracting Co. in June 2020 and work began in July 2020. On Tuesday, contractors will begin setting in place the
steel grid deck panels that will be filled with concrete.
The project is expected to be completed in late 2022.
Steber said revenue generated by the toll increase also will help fund projects in the Bridge Authority’s five-year capital plan.
In 2019, the authority announced that tolls tolls on its Hudson River crossings would increase each year beginning in 2020 and ending in 2023.
In 2020, the authority increased tolls to $1.35 for E-ZPass users and $1.75 for those paying cash. That was the first toll hike by the authority since 2012, when it increased the crossing charge to $1.25 for EZPass users and $1.50 for
cash crossings.
In May 2022, tolls will rise to $1.55 for E-ZPass users and $2 for cash payers. And in 2023, the E-ZPass toll will increase to $1.65, and the cash toll will rise to $2.15.
“Since the Authority receives no appropriations through tax dollars, tolls make up about 97% of our revenue,” Steber said in the email. “Tolls are necessary to continue our robust preventive maintenance program and keep all of our local Hudson River bridges standing strong for years to come.”
Drivers who use the authority’s five bridges pay toll only when heading east. There is no westbound toll on any of the spans.