As many motorists, environmentalists, and even Planetizen readers have noted, the queues at the toll plazas are one part of driving that may be uniformly dreaded. Toll authorities, including NY's MTA, feel your pain.
"The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is embarking on a pilot program on the Henry Hudson Bridge between Manhattan and the Bronx to create an all-electronic toll system, allowing cars to zip over the crossing without slowing to a crawl.
The program...would eliminate the gates that currently force E-ZPass users to come to a complete stop, even at tolls that require no cash transaction. Staffed tollbooths for customers who now pay cash would eventually be phased out, and drivers who do not subscribe to E-ZPass would be mailed a bill."
"It is a test to see how we can move toward an all-electronic tolling environment," Mr. Walder, the authority's chairman, said in an interview."
Thanks to Streetsblog Daily
Comments
Good sign for free flow tolling
This is already being used in Texas, Colorado and is underway in Florida. The MTA in New York kept gates as a way of cutting down on toll evasion in lieu of investing in then relatively unproven video surveillance and enforcement systems. Additionally, the dimensions of the toll plazas run by the MTA tend to be too small for free flow traffic, e.g. distance between the toll plaza and tunnel portal is limited.
Next up will be whether the E-ZPass network will switch from the existing battery pack transponder to the eGo sticker decal.