When New York's toll roads go completely cashless you won't have to stop at a toll booth to pay the fare. And, some are worried it will also mean you won't have to be stopped by a state trooper to get a ticket.

It's one of the unanswered questions State Senator Joe Griffo is asking as the plan nears completion. All of the state's tolls roads, bridges and tunnels will have a fully cashless operation in place by the end of this year. The $355 million project is mostly done, now.

The cashless system ''...reduces congestion, improves traffic flow, is better for the environment, and allows for non-stop travel on New York’s toll roads, bridges and tunnels,'' the New York State Thruway Authority's website says.

Those metal, over-head poles and brackets that straddle entry and exit interchanges on the Thruway are called gantries. Griffo is asking why, with only 52 interchanges on the Thruway, 70 gantries have been installed?

Also, if the cameras and sensors attached to those gantries either located on toll roads, or at the interchanges, will be used as speed control devices and to track the movement of motorist?

Could the state use the entry and exit times, or at checkpoints along the way, be used to calculate a driver's average speed? Then be used as evidence to issue a ticket?

It's how the state issues handles speed enforcement for boaters on the state canal system.

Also, he wants to know why non-E-ZPass users being charged more than E-ZPass users?

 

Currently, E-Z Pass holders receive a 5% discount on tolls.

“In the past, I have asked the Governor and Thruway Authority to explore the option of expanding automatic ‘open road tolling’ to some of the more heavily trafficked areas upstate because I understand the importance of having transportation infrastructure that can move people efficiently and effectively,” Sen. Griffo said in a news release from his office. “While this most recent venture will help us to accomplish this objective, a number of legitimate concerns and questions have been raised about this project that I believe require a more thorough explanation. It is imperative that we make sure that this and other projects function as intended, are not financial albatrosses for the state and do not cause unnecessary burdens and hardships for New York’s residents and visitors,'' Griffo said.

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