Tolls Going Up On The Cuomo Bridge And NY Thruway

NEW YORK — Tolls on the Mario Cuomo Bridge will go up Jan. 1 and anyone without a New York E-ZPass will pay a lot more there and along the New York State Thruway.

The New York State Thruway Authority Board of Directors unanimously approved Monday, for the first time in 10 years, what they called "a toll adjustment." It includes the Cuomo Bridge and other tolling changes connected to the statewide conversion to cashless tolling, which occurred Nov. 14.

The price will go up 50 cents a year in the next two years for New York E-ZPass holders. Drivers will pay $5.25 in 2021 and $5.75 in 2022. If you use Tolls by Mail, you'll pay 30 percent more plus a $2 administrative surcharge per billing statement. If your E-ZPass is from another state, you'll pay 15 percent more. The commuter discount rate will be 40 percent for passenger vehicles that opt into the program

"This is a modest toll adjustment balancing the needs for continued investment in our system while keeping tolls affordable for our motorists," thruway authority Executive Director Matthew J. Driscoll said in a statement. "We have not had a toll adjustment in 10 years and as we enter into a new era of modern transportation on the Thruway, it’s the right time both operationally and financially for this adjustment to occur."

The Cuomo Bridge tolls will go up for everyone except — temporarily — residents of Westchester and Rockland counties, who can take advantage of a new E-ZPass plan.

For commercial vehicles, rates will increase 31 percent in 2021 and 30 percent in 2022. For example, the toll for a tractor-trailer with five axles and a New York E-ZPass account will increase to $55.77 during peak hours in 2022, compared to $90 at the George Washington Bridge.

Systemwide changes:

• The standard New York E-ZPass toll rate will become the base toll rate and a 30 percent rate differential will be established for Tolls by Mail toll rates.
• A 15 percent rate differential for out-of-state E-ZPass customers.
• All transactions processed through a license plate image review will pay the Tolls by Mail rate.
• A $2 administrative surcharge per billing statement for Tolls by Mail statements to support the administrative costs associated with processing transactions through the Tolls by Mail program.

Differential toll rates have been standard practice among other systems that have converted to cashless tolling, NYSTA officials said. For example, Massachusetts has an 87 percent differential on the Massachusetts Turnpike and 109 percent on the Boston Extension. The Miami-Dade Expressway has a 100 percent differential and the Pennsylvania Turnpike charges a 36 percent differential.

E-ZPass is free. Information on the various payment methods can be found here. All drivers, regardless of residency, can sign up for a New York E-ZPass account at E-ZPassNY.com. E-ZPass On-the-Go tags can be purchased at 26 Thruway Service Areas systemwide, more than 800 locations across the state including grocery and convenience stores and government offices, DMV offices and AAA retail stores.

More information about the toll adjustment can be found on the thruway authority’s website.

The adjustment will go into effect Jan. 1.