This time next month, drivers traveling from Rockland to Westchester won’t have to stop and pay tolls.
Cashless, or all-electronic, tolling for the Tappan Zee Bridge will start April 23 and allows motorists to maintain their highway speeds. A temporary overhead gantry near Exit 10 southbound in South Nyack uses high-tech cameras, sensors and related equipment to detect the class of the vehicle, read E-ZPass tags and photograph drivers’ front and rear license plates.
The new system was developed in conjunction with the New NY Bridge project to replace the Tappan Zee Bridge.
Motorists will be advised of the coming change through highway signs, signs at service areas, handouts at toll booths and variable message signs along the Thruway. Those with E-ZPass will experience no change in the way they pay their tolls.
Drivers are encouraged to sign up for up for an E-ZPass account at E-Zpassny.com, at E-ZPass customer service centers or at the New NY Bridge Outreach Centers in Tarrytown and Nyack. Drivers without E-ZPass tags will receive a monthly bill in the mail.
Once the system is activated, drivers can pay online at the Tolls by Mail website, by mail, by phone or in-person by check, credit card, checking account or cash. Motorists will also be able to text **826 to quickly receive information about the Tolls by Mail website and payment details.
Shortly after cashless tolling at the Tappan Zee Bridge takes effect, the toll plaza in Tarrytown will be removed. It will be relocated to a new toll plaza in Tarrytown when the bridge is completed in 2018.
No employees at the Tarrytown toll plaza will lose their jobs as all will be reassigned within the Hudson Valley area.
In January, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced new penalties against chronic toll evaders. Those who fail to pay five tolls and associated charges resulting from violations on different days within an 18-month period will have their vehicle registrations suspended by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.
Cuomo has also proposed investing $700 million to freeze Thruway tolls until at least 2020. His plan would also cut tolls in half through tax credits for New York residents and businesses that drive the Thruway the most often.
