The New York State Thruway Authority has made progress in accurately billing drivers for tolls, according to a recent audit by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. The audit found improvements since the implementation of cashless tolling, but also highlighted ongoing issues that could lead to revenue loss and customer frustration.
“The Thruway Authority has come a long way since it first introduced cashless tolls, but some problems remain,” DiNapoli said. “Even a smaller percentage of unreadable or inaccurate tolls can mean loss of revenue to the state or aggravation for New Yorkers facing incorrect bills. I appreciate the efforts the Authority has undertaken to fix the issues we identified.”
In 2024, toll and related revenues reached $1 billion, up from $804 million in 2021. E-Z Pass accounted for 95% of all collections last year. A previous audit from May 2023 had called for better collection processes.
The latest review examined three weeks of transactions and discovered that about 92,000 tolls could not be charged due to unreadable license plates. At interchange 25A near Schenectady, auditors noted around 36,000 incorrectly charged tolls and another 8,000 missed charges—an error rate close to five percent.
Oversight concerns were also raised regarding more than 12,000 non-revenue E-Z Pass tags issued by Thruway. In a sample of these tags, documentation supporting eligibility was missing for over half of them.
Since December 2019, Thruway’s Office of the Toll Payer Advocate (TPA) has helped customers with billing disputes using established guidelines primarily focused on reducing violation fees. However, auditors found inconsistencies: out of fifty cases reviewed, twelve received fee reductions beyond what is permitted by internal criteria without sufficient documentation explaining those decisions.
The audit further revealed that there is no effective system in place for handling undeliverable mail sent to drivers about unpaid tolls or violations. Of forty-eight bills reviewed that were mailed out by an external vendor, twenty-five were returned as undeliverable; most continued being sent to invalid addresses without resolution.
Nine recommendations were made in the report including periodic reviews at problematic exits like Exit 25A, routine checks on transaction accuracy and tag eligibility, and improved recordkeeping when settlements fall outside standard guidelines.
Thruway officials agreed with most findings and reported steps are already underway toward implementing some recommendations.
