Skip to main content

New York State Thruway to go all electronic

The New York State Thruway is converting two mainline and one side toll plaza to all electronic (AET) or cashless toll collection, in a drive to contain spiralling employee costs and debts caused by a reduction in traffic. Although the original plan called for open road tolling (ORT) plus a cash toll plaza, the Request for Proposals for the new bridge allowed bidders to propose AET during the construction if that reduced disruption of traffic. Work is now starting on the new bridge which under the contract
February 21, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
The New York State Thruway is converting two mainline and one side toll plaza to all electronic (AET) or cashless toll collection, in a drive to contain spiralling employee costs and debts caused by a reduction in traffic.

Although  the original plan called for open road tolling (ORT) plus a cash toll plaza, the Request for Proposals for the new bridge allowed bidders to propose AET during the construction if that reduced disruption of traffic.

Work is now starting on the new bridge which under the contract is due for completion by April 2018. The new bridge will be located immediately north of the existing bridge and the first traffic to be moved from the old bridge will be the non-toll northbound traffic. The old toll plaza will probably stay in service for at least the first half of construction. The new AET system seems likely to be needed some time in 2015 or 2016.

The move to AET will reduce the capital costs of the new bridge project which includes the new Tappan Zee toll plaza. The ORT plus cash toll plaza as originally planned would have cost an estimated US$61 million. AET with gantries over four or five lanes is mush less - of the order of US$10 million to US$15 million in capital and setup costs.  AET also has clear advantages over ORT in safety (less driver distraction, no diverge/merge movements, fewer speed changes) and in environmental impacts (less idling and acceleration to generate tailpipe emissions, smaller paved footprint.)

Related Content

  • Putting the brakes on smart motorways
    February 28, 2022
    The UK government has announced that development of its all-lane running highways is going to be put on hold for another few years to assess safety data. Adam Hill finds out why
  • Interoperable electronic payment systems begin testing
    January 31, 2012
    OmniAir's Tim McGuckin writes about progress with the Electronic Payment Services National Interoperability Specification, which aims to provide the US with payment capabilities at lane level using any ETC component protocol. The OmniAir Consortium was founded to advance US national deployment of open, effective and interoperable transportation technology systems. Through its member-defined programmes, companies and individuals join to work for open standards, interoperability, third-party certification and
  • Mileage based charging offers secure future for funding
    August 10, 2016
    HNTB’s Matthew Click sets out why a move to mileage-based pricing is inevitable. Infrastructure is the most neglected yet the most critical engine of our society, and our continued indifference could lead to a dystopian future. Our roads, bridges and highways have been largely passed by in the digital age—marginalised in an era when funding is limited and stewardship of physical assets has given way to our preoccupation with technological innovation and data—the stuff of the virtual realm.
  • Urban mobility and demand management - the Mobility Credits Model
    January 26, 2012
    Vito Marcolongo and Marco Troglia, Quaeryon srl describe the Mobility Credits Model, which is intended to combine inducements and fairness to improve mobility while reducing its more negative economic and environmental effects