NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Drivers traveling the New York State Thruway this weekend will no longer be able to pay their tolls with cash, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday.
The thruway will officially go cashless overnight Friday, Nov. 13 into Saturday, Nov. 14, Cuomo said in a release Thursday.
The governor announced plans for a fully cashless tolling system in his 2018 "State of the State" address. New York has already rolled out cashless tolling along some swaths of the thruway, but this weekend’s change will mark the end of cash toll collection across the entire system.
“The completion of this exciting new project will help Thruway travelers save time, as well as reduce traffic, cut greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality all along the system,” Cuomo said in a statement.
“Getting this cashless tolling system done and getting it done early shows that even in these trying times, New York will never stop innovating, and never stop building for its future,” he added.
As part of the new system — which eliminates printed toll tickets — drivers who have E-ZPass will continue to be charged automatically via their accounts.
Drivers who do not have E-ZPass will receive a bill in the mail approximately a month after they pass through an overhead toll gate. The state has launched a “TollsNY” mobile app that will allow drivers to manage their E-ZPass accounts or pay tolls that have been mailed, Cuomo’s release noted.
This weekend’s shift to cashless tolling does mean approximately 1,100 toll collectors — including 200 full-time collectors and 900 part-time collectors — will lose their jobs, a Thruway Authority spokesperson said.
Collectors received notice that their jobs would ultimately be eliminated back in 2018, when Cuomo announced plans for the cashless system, the spokesperson noted.
"Since 2018, when cashless tolling was first announced, more than one-third of impacted full-time staff were/are eligible for retirement," the spokesperson said.
"Also since that time, the Thruway Authority has offered impacted toll collection staff numerous career development and training opportunities, including tuition assistance, CDL certification and Civil Service Exams for placement in other positions within the Thruway and the state," the spokesperson added.
The Thruway Authority recently launched a webpage detailing the “History of Toll Collection” on the New York State Thruway as a tribute to its toll collectors, Cuomo's release noted.
“After 66 years of operation, the conversion marks the end of an era for the Thruway Authority," the release said. "Since the first tolls were collected on the Thruway in June 1954, toll collectors have been the backbone of the Authority, assisting customers and collecting cash tolls along the superhighway."