GLENMONT — Motorists, trucking operators and others will be able to weigh in on a proposed 5 percent Thruway toll hike during a hearing at 5 p.m. Monday, May 22, at the Glenmont Elementary School, 328 Route 9W.
The state Thruway Authority late last year began the process of instituting two increases: about 5 percent for 2024 and another 5 percent in 2027. It would be the first systemwide increase in 14 years.
According to the current and proposed toll schedule, the price for a car traveling from Albany to Woodbury Exit 15, which leads to New York City and points south, would go from $4.98 to $5.48 for E-ZPass users.
Recent hearings on toll hikes, such as one in late 2020 were sparsely attended but there has also been opposition to the idea of an increase from local lawmakers, trucking firms and state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.
DiNapoli earlier this year criticized the proposed increase, saying it should be a “last option” for raising revenue.
His office found that savings from shifting to cashless tolls — with E-ZPass and camera options — haven’t produced savings that were expected. And he believed the Thruway Authority might be able to get more federal money for the roadway.
Thruway officials have pointed to rising maintenance costs and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic which brought a $125 million reduction in 2020 toll revenue, as some of the reasons for the needed increase.
Lawmakers have in the past spoken out against proposed hikes. “You can call this a toll but it’s a tax,” said state Sen. Jim Tedisco, R-Saratoga Springs. “People have to drive to get to work.”
Tedisco has sponsored a bill that, if passed, would require the Legislature to ratify Thruway tolls.
Other hearings across the state are as follows:
- Monday, May 8, 4-7 p.m. NYS Thruway…
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