Toll Hikes Proposed For Cuomo Bridge

TARRYTOWN, NY — Crossing the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge will cost more in the future, but the bigger increase will be borne by commercial vehicles. The Thruway Authority board of directors approved Thursday a proposal to begin toll adjustments and other billing changes that will support the statewide conversion to cashless tolling.

Passenger cars using NY E-ZPass may pay $5.75 by 2022 to cross the Cuomo bridge, though a 40 percent discount program would be offered to qualified NY E-ZPass customers.

The Thruway Authority said the propose passenger car toll adjustment for the Cuomo bridge includes the following:

Beginning Jan. 1, 2021, increase NY E-ZPass rates by 50 cents in 2021 and 2022 to the rate of $5.75

Beginning Jan. 1, 2021, the commuter discounted rate will be 40 percent off the NY E-ZPass rate only for passenger vehicles that opt into the program

A new resident E-ZPass plan will be offered for Westchester and Rockland County residents that will beep their rate flat through 2022. The program will be offered to passenger vehicles with a NY E-ZPass who opt into the plan and can provide proof of residency (i.e., documentation showing their vehicle is registered in one of these two counties, etc.)

These will be the first toll increases on the Thruway since 2010, the Thruway Authority said.

The authority is also looking to reduce commercial congestion on the Cuomo bridge from drivers "bridge shopping" for the cheapest crossing which create additional traffic. The commercial toll rates for Cuomo bridge will more closely align with other major crossings in the New York metropolitan area.

The NY E-ZPass rates for commercial vehicles on the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge will increase by 31 percent in 2021 and 30 percent in 2022. For example, the toll for a tractor trailer with 5 axels and an NY E-ZPass account will increase to $55.77 during peak hours in 2022, compared to $90 at the George Washington Bridge. Even with the adjustment, the commercial toll rate on the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge in 2022 will still be 38 percent less than the toll rate on the George Washington Bridge, according to the Thruway Authority.

Beginning in 2020, the standard NY E-ZPass toll rate will become the base toll rate, and beginning Jan. 1, 2021, a 30 percent rate differential would be established for Tolls by Mail. There will also be a $2 administrative surcharge per billing statement for Tolls by Mail to support the costs associated with processing transactions.

State Sen. David Carlucci, D-Westchester/Rockand, said he thinks taxpayers should not be footing the bill for the new Tappan Zee Bridge.

"The Thruway Authority is going to place a regressive fee on residents with little regard and zero transparency. We can have a beautiful new bridge, but if people can't afford to cross it, then our economy will be crushed," he said in a prepared statement.

"We need to ensure there is a real resident discount and that a toll payer advocate is in place to address current problems with cashless tolling," Carlucci said.

The New York State Bridge Authority also approved incremental toll increases Thursday, which were half what was originally proposed.

The increases will affect Bear Mountain, Newburgh-Beacon, Mid-Hudson, Kingston-Rhinecliff and the Rip Van Winkle bridges.

The Bridge Authority will roll out the new tolls for E-ZPass customers at 10 cents per year for four years. The eventual 2023 rate of $1.65 for E-ZPass customers will still be lower in inflation-adjusted dollars than tolls were when the authority began in the 1930s, and they remain among the lowest bridge tolls in the nation.

The Bridge Authority originally proposed a much larger increase, but following a review by the New York State Division of the Budget, the revised plan would increase tolls by less than 8 percent per year, about half the amount originally proposed.

Cash rates will increase from the current rate of $1.50 to $2.15, starting on May 1, 2020, and ending on May 1, 2023. Tolls were last increased in 2012, when they were set at $1.25 for E-ZPass customers and $1.50 for cash customers, and have only gone up four times in the Authority’s 87-year history.

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