Rip Van Winkle Bridge Goes Cashless

HUDSON, NY — Put that change away when getting ready to cross the Rip Van Winkle Bridge.

Cashless tolling has gone live at the bridge which connects Catskill and Hudson.

Motorists no longer have to stop thanks to the state-of-the-art sensors and cameras in the gantry that read E-ZPass tags and take images of license plates.

Vehicles with E-ZPass tags will be automatically charged and those without will have their license plate image captured. A toll bill will be mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle via Tolls by Mail NY.

Officials said the overhead gantry with the cashless tolling equipment was built on the west approach to the bridge, in the vicinity of the administration building. As with all Hudson River bridges, tolls are collected from eastbound travelers only.

The tollbooths will be removed over the course of the next week. While demolition is taking place, drivers will be routed through the current toll plaza area and will be asked to proceed with caution.

Next spring, the toll plaza will be reconfigured, leading to straighter travel lanes for traffic in both directions.

Some of the toll collecting and bridge operations personnel at the bridge have transitioned to new part-time and full-time security technician positions to staff the facility during the same hours that the bridge was staffed prior to going cashless.They will maintain many of the operational functions that were performed by toll collecting operations staff, such as assisting with emergency response and on-site security monitoring.

This is the third Bridge Authority span to go cashless. Newburgh-Beach Bridge began July 7 and the Bear Mountain Bridge did Oct. 1

Sometime in December, the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge will go cashless. All five crossings are expected to be cashless by March.

E-ZPass tags can be ordered here or at a number of retailers in the state.