Cashless tolls are coming to all MTA bridges and tunnels in the city beginning in January, part of a massive effort to speed up traffic and boost security, Gov. Cuomo announced Wednesday.
“This automatic tolling is going to have an impact on virtually every commuter in a car,” Cuomo said during the announcement at the New-York Historical Society. “It’s smart and it’s going to be a reality.”
The New York Crossings Project affects the Brooklyn-Battery and Queens-Midtown tunnels and the Whitestone, Verrazano, Throgs Neck, Marine Parkway and Cross Bay bridges.
A pilot program called Tolls by Mail began at the Henry Hudson Bridge in November 2012, allowing all drivers to proceed through any lane without stopping.
The idea is to keep vehicles moving, Cuomo said, adding that the plan is “the best way to reduce traffic.”
Drivers spend more than 6,400 hours per day waiting to pay tolls at Big Apple crossings, according to the governor’s office.
With the new automatic tolling system, when a vehicle crosses through the toll without an E-ZPass, the license plate will be recorded and a bill will be sent to the registered owner within 30 days.
Drivers will have 30 days to pay from the date of the bill.
Automatic tolling will begin on some MTA crossings in January and will be completed by the end of 2017.
As part of the revamp, tolling sections will be equipped with high-tech cameras and sensors to read license plates and test facial-recognition software.
Every MTA crossing, as well as the George Washington Bridge, will also be outfitted with energy-efficient, multicolored LED lighting as part of a beautification and environmental conservation effort.
The gantry structures supporting the new electronic toll equipment will feature wave-like artwork.
A dusk-to-dawn lighting schedule called “The City That Never Sleeps” will illuminate the bridges and tunnels starting in January.
Funding for the project encompassing the MTA’s seven bridges and two tunnels will come from the MTA’s $27 billion capital-plan budget.