Thruway Toll Hikes Approved
-
- April
- 25
Defying Gov. David Paterson and state leaders, the state Thruway Authority today approved raising tolls on the 641-mile long superhighway starting in July.
The Thruway Authority has been under immense political pressure to reject a toll increase, yet the board voted 5-1 to go ahead with the hike.
A discount for E-Z Pass customers will be cut in half starting in July and an overall 5 percent increase will go into effect in January 2009, with another 5 percent increase in 2010.
Other increases in 2009 include a 50 cent increase to travel over the Tappen Zee Bridge, bringing the total roundtrip fare to $5. The commuter fee, for regular customers, will rise from $2 to $3 on the bridge.
Board members argued that they have little choice but to go ahead with the toll increases, which would bring in about $375 million in revenue over the next four years. They said the Thruway needs repair; a delay would only cause further road deterioration.
“For the money, the motoring public is getting a very, very safe system, a system which everyone feels comfortable riding on – and that’s what we are all about here,” said authority board chairman John Buono.
This entry was posted
on Friday, April 25th, 2008 at 1:19 pm by Joseph Spector.
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Jay Gallagher has covered Albany for Gannett News Service since 1984 and has been Albany Bureau chief since 1989. He`s a native of the Boston area and likes to point out that in this millennium, the score is Red Sox 1 championship, the Yankees 0. 
Cara Matthews has been a statehouse correspondent in the Albany Bureau since August 2005. Prior to that, she covered Putnam County government and politics at The Journal News for nearly five years. Before that, she worked at newspapers in Connecticut and covered the state Legislature for one of them. 
