NYSBA Smaller bridge tollster goes electronic

NYSBA

Smaller bridge tollster goes electronic

New York’s fourth toll authority is up and running with electronic tolling. The New York State Bridge Authority runs five Hudson River toll bridges upstream of the Tappan Zee bridge (which is part of the New York State Thruway.) The NYSBA bridges are located from 70km to 200km north of midtown Manhattan. All are close by the Thruway, so it was logical for the Auth to work closely with the Thruway.

The Thruway’s customer service contractor, Lockheed is supplying tags and managing Auth customer accounts from its established centers. The system from Mark IV of Mississauga Ontario has the regional consortium’s E-ZPass moniker. Other NY area toll authority’s customers can use the facility under reciprocity agreements and NYSBA tags can be used on the nearby Thruway and on NY City crossings.

E-ZPass is running now at the 8-toll lane plaza on the Newburgh-Beacon bridge (I-84), the Auth’s busiest. All 8-lanes at the plaza have e-toll, 2 combined with coin machines, 5 with toll collectors and one lane is dedicated to E-ZPass.

90% of e-toll transactions are in the single dedicated lane, according to Bob Russo who is in charge of the conversion at NYSBA. He says a 2nd toll lane will soon be dedicated lane to electronic tolling.

Gates with e-toll

NYSBA has no gates on any of its lanes presently but in an unusual twist, it has decided to install them on dedicated e-toll lanes.

Says Russo: “We decided on gates for both safety and enforcement. The gates will keep E-ZPass patrons from speeding. We have toll collectors walking across the lanes and quite a short distance from the toll plaza to an exit ramp, so we’ll have weaving and we don’t want to traffic speeding through because they have E-ZPass. And we are not installing video enforcement. So the gate will stop motorists without a transponder.”

The Mid-Hudson bridge, NYSBA’s 2nd busiest, has 4-toll lanes but is getting a fifth, while the other bridges have only 2-toll lanes each. All those lanes are being provided with e-toll readers. One bridge will come on line each month starting June for completion Oct. The Auth tolls eastbound only on all its bridges, and cash tolls are 75c. A 30-trip ticket book valid for 90 days is $12 for 40c trips. Tickets are handed to a toll collector.

Account holders of the NYSBA who make 17 trips in 30 days with their electronic toll tag are similarly entitled to a discount toll of 40c. No date has yet been set but the Auth plans to phase out the sale of 40c ticket books, which will encourage greater use of e-tags.

Russo says the e-toll installation has gone pretty smoothly: “It has been well received I think. We had to make changes in signage and lane designations. We went for about 2 weeks without a dedicated lane. That is now very popular and works well.” (Bob Russo, NYSBA 914 691 7245)