ALBANY – The New York State Thruway will soon be going cashless; however, the state’s Thruway Authority still doesn’t have a specific date for when the rollout will be complete.
Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the project in 2018, with hopes it would reduce congestion along the state’s 570-mile transportation system.
Thruway Authority Executive Director Matthew Driscoll is urging anyone who does not yet have an E-ZPass to get one soon to save time and money.
“It’ll afford you the ability to not receive a bill in the mail. And again, it’s just really the most efficient, effective and cost-effective way to travel, so I would really urge motorists to get an E-ZPass,” Driscoll said. “As far as the Thruway Authority and our ability to take pictures of any plates, including those that are peeling, these cameras on this new system have the highest and best resolution anywhere. We don’t see that as an issue. We’ve been testing already. We’ve not spotted any issue, so I don’t think it’s an issue at all for the Thruway Authority.”
Driscoll says a lot of work to get all of the cashless toll lanes installed continues, however, he hopes to have everything complete by the end of the month.
“We’re in the midst of testing each and every one of those sites specifically, as well as the system as a whole,” explained Driscoll.
He says so far 70 gantries have been installed at 58 locations across the state.
“On those gantries are a series of equipment, cameras, laser beams, treadles embedded in the road. All of those have a separate function in terms of measuring the height of a vehicle counting the axles of a vehicle, taking pictures of the license plates, and so forth, so each element of those gantries is tested individually, and then as a whole,” Driscoll said.
After cashless tolling goes live, the toll booths will begin to be removed.
However, Driscoll says that’s not expected to be completed until late summer of 2021.
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