Nyack April 23 — Goodbye toll booths on the Tappan Zee, beginning at midnight, tonight.
New York motorists who travel on the southbound New York State Thruway in South Nyack will be able to get where they’re going a little bit quicker and a few grams lighter starting today. A new temporary cashless tolling facility has been installed in that location (on the Tappan Zee Bridge). The system allows drivers to maintain highway speeds — no need to crawl towards the toll collector — while easily paying tolls through E-ZPass or Tolls By Mail. The latter system snaps a photo of a E-ZPass-less car’s license plate as it passes through the overhead equipment; a bill is then sent to the registered car owner’s home address (it can be paid online).
The system goes online just after midnight. Implemention, originally scheduled for April 22, was pushed back a day because of today’s rainy weather forecast.
Cashless tolling is one of the infrastructure advances that the state is making around the New NY Bridge. “Cashless tolling builds on [the New NY Bridge] advancements by making it safer and more convenient for drivers to pay their tolls. This technology, which is being used on many roads and bridges around the nation, will also ease highway congestion and help the environment by reducing idling,” said New York State Thruway Authority Interim Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer Maria Lehman, P.E.
Currently, 35 bridges, tunnels and toll roads across the country use a cashless tolling system. In addition to making travelling more convenient, the system is intended to reduce environmental pollution through less starting, stopping, and idling. For more about tolling, read this 2015 IBTTA report; and for information about the cashless tolling system watch the above video.
