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Uncollected tolls increase at thruway exits

Sep 28, 2016 12:02 am
Joseph Spector reports in The Poughkeepsie Journal that uncollected tolls increased 23 percent between 2013 and 2014 on the New York State Thruway, a $2.5 million loss of revenue for an agency struggling to not raise tolls and build a $3.9 billion new Tappan Zee Bridge north of New York City. The story -- based of FOIA requests the Thruway Authority was slow to fill -- shows that in the mid-Hudson Valley, uncollected tolls rose in 2014 after four years of declines. Thruway Authority officials told the paper they have increased penalties for toll scofflaws in recent months, with the state Department of Motor Vehicles now able to suspend the registration of motorists who fail to pay five tolls, fees, and other charges over 18 months. Now tolls are switching to a cashless system without toll-takers, and if drivers don’t have E-ZPass, they get a bill in the mail after a camera shot is taken of the license plate. Read the full story in The Poughkeepsie Journal.