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This showed up in my work news alerts feed today. Just FYI.
So, has anything official come out or is this another article just reporting what has been proposed?
I know that the Mass Turnpike doesn’t have toll booths and other states just send a bill in some cases as well. So, this will be interesting to see how this works here in NY.
How is a road ever paid off? It needs constant maintenance and upgrading.
In the case of the NYS Thruway, the answer is simple.
When the thruway was constructed, the state floated a bond to pay for that construction. The bonds were issued on the promise that the tolls would pay for the bond. Once the bond was paid off, the tolls would be eliminated. The tolls were never intended to fund maintenance.
All bonds were finally paid off in 1996. Thus, the _construction_ of the Thruway was paid off then.
As is the case in New York, the legislature saw the end of this cash cow coming and knew they had to act. In 1992, they transferred ownership of the NYS Canal system to the Thruway Authority. Somehow, that justified breaking the original promise to abolish the tolls. Not only did they break the original promise, but they regularly propose and vote for rate increases.
The rigged political game has no regard for the people. How many voters contact their representative in _favor_ of the rate increases? I'm willing to bet the cry is close to 100% against... yet they always seem to go through.
Technically, the Thruway tolls pay for the Canal System, as without that it would be a toll-free road.
Since this is the BUFFALO thread - there are already ZERO tolls in the city limits. And even to get from downtown across the Grand Island Bridges to Niagara Falls and Lewiston only costs all of 95 cents!
And if you READ the link, there is going to be NO CHANGE to EZ Pass toll rates for NY drivers. The tolls in NY haven't changed in 10 years, and are minuscule anyway. People go crazy over nothing. Even from the PA line to downtown it only costs a whopping $2.99. $1.38 to Batavia - the HORRORS!
As far as you and other out of staters, you SHOULD pay more. If you don't like it then take Route 5, or Route 20, or whatever other road you want.
Will do.
i haven't paid a toll on that joke of a highway since at least '06 or perhaps earlier, and don't plan on paying a toll on it ever again.
Yes it is a proposal, as I have all ready commented they are price gouging people with the existing tolls and with a 6 Billion+ shortfall looming how do you think the state will act after the "public hearings"?
The union which represents the NYS Thruway Authority employees are bent on increasing tolls and keeping things just the way they are presently within the system. They have a captive group of customers, many who live within NY, albeit the Upstate part where the population is crashing, and out-of-staters mainly from New England who are passing through to get to the Midwest, and back. The only alternative is I-86/NY-17, which is a considerable distance away and not feasible for a lot of private and commercial travel.
Other states have all manner of alternatives to toll roads, I avoid avoid tolls like the plague. But due to geography and various money-hungry ne'er-do-wells like the Thruway Authority, the NYSP, and others, there's never been any effort to upgrade, say, 5&20, which would require federal aid, which would be difficult to get for a dying region of the country.
Much easier for the state of NY to blow their horns over a budget gap of their own making, a gap mainly driven by health coverage for low-income people and welfarites who show up to the polls on election day, and get money for it, than for private citizens and businesses to have any say in how the Thruway is governed and supported. The private sector and the people who work within it and support it in NY is shrinking, anyway, and the state knows that and acts accordingly.
Other states which are growing get lots of federal help, which has been the law since the current highway system was written into law in the 1950's.
Nowhere is the stark contrast between NY state highways and Interstate highways more visible in that state than in Rochester, far as I can tell. At least Buffalo got a considerable amount of infrastructure spending back in the 70's and 80's, some of the infrastructure around Rochester was built in the late-50's and into the 60's, then forgotten about. I can't think of any other state which let things get that bad. Niagara Falls is another place where the roads were awful, last I drove over them.
Where 490 goes through Rochester, the short length of highway known as I-590, and I-390, end at I-490, and after that going north are state roads. Up until recent years you could drive along there, and under the bridges for NY 390 and NY 590, and see the awful neglect. Third-world levels of neglect.
That's how much NY state government cares about Upstate, in a nut shell. They can't even spare a few bucks here and there to keep the state highways in a decent state of maintenance and repair.
The union which represents the NYS Thruway Authority employees are bent on increasing tolls and keeping things just the way they are presently within the system. They have a captive group of customers, many who live within NY, albeit the Upstate part where the population is crashing, and out-of-staters mainly from New England who are passing through to get to the Midwest, and back. The only alternative is I-86/NY-17, which is a considerable distance away and not feasible for a lot of private and commercial travel.
Other states have all manner of alternatives to toll roads, I avoid avoid tolls like the plague. But due to geography and various money-hungry ne'er-do-wells like the Thruway Authority, the NYSP, and others, there's never been any effort to upgrade, say, 5&20, which would require federal aid, which would be difficult to get for a dying region of the country.
Much easier for the state of NY to blow their horns over a budget gap of their own making, a gap mainly driven by health coverage for low-income people and welfarites who show up to the polls on election day, and get money for it, than for private citizens and businesses to have any say in how the Thruway is governed and supported. The private sector and the people who work within it and support it in NY is shrinking, anyway, and the state knows that and acts accordingly.
I remember reading decades ago about welfare recipients moving in from other states to take advantage of NYS generous benefits.
The union which represents the NYS Thruway Authority employees are bent on increasing tolls and keeping things just the way they are presently within the system. They have a captive group of customers, many who live within NY, albeit the Upstate part where the population is crashing, and out-of-staters mainly from New England who are passing through to get to the Midwest, and back. The only alternative is I-86/NY-17, which is a considerable distance away and not feasible for a lot of private and commercial travel.
Other states have all manner of alternatives to toll roads, I avoid avoid tolls like the plague. But due to geography and various money-hungry ne'er-do-wells like the Thruway Authority, the NYSP, and others, there's never been any effort to upgrade, say, 5&20, which would require federal aid, which would be difficult to get for a dying region of the country.
Much easier for the state of NY to blow their horns over a budget gap of their own making, a gap mainly driven by health coverage for low-income people and welfarites who show up to the polls on election day, and get money for it, than for private citizens and businesses to have any say in how the Thruway is governed and supported. The private sector and the people who work within it and support it in NY is shrinking, anyway, and the state knows that and acts accordingly.
Some take Routes 104, 5, 20, 31, etc., depending on where they are going/coming from.
I remember reading decades ago about welfare recipients moving in from other states to take advantage of NYS generous benefits.
From where?
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