The New York State Thruway Authority has lost $631,000 in revenue this year from motorists hiding or altering their plates from tolling cameras, a 55% surge from 2023.
The total losses as of mid-November had already surpassed 2023’s $407,000 total, according to Thruway Authority statistics. Over the past three years, the Thruway Authority has lost more than $1.2 million in revenue from such transactions.
The 182,000 “malicious obstruction” transactions tallied so far this year is up from 175,000 in 2023 and more than double 2022’s 72,000.
Four years after pivoting to cashless tolling along its 570 highway miles, the Thruway Authority is contending with drivers deploying new and evolving methods to trick their way out of paying tolls.
Photos of the license plates of scheming motorists snapped by overhead cameras offer a glimpse of their tactics. Motorcyclists — one sporting a distinctive tattoo — reach back and cover their plate with a hand. Others alter numbers or letters on their plate with markers or black electrical tape. Some have used fanny packs to cover their plate. Another affixed a sticker of a skull to obscure letters and numbers.
Tricks: Unpaid tolls surging on NY Thruway. What tricks are drivers using to avoid detection?
The Thruway Authority says the surge in lost revenue doesn’t mean an increase in malicious obstruction. They attribute the $224,000 increase in revenue lost between 2023 and this year to toll hikes that went into effect in January 2024.
And they say such transactions are a tiny fraction, .05%, of the tolls processed this year, roughly the same sliver of 2023’s total. The Thruway has collected $887 million in tolls so far this year, up from $825.5 million through all of last year, they add.
“We’re working on a number of different enforcement mechanisms,” Thruway Authority spokeswoman Jennifer Givner said. “Holding that number steady is important. It’s important that it has not increased. We’re going to continue to pursue those individuals who try to evade paying their tolls.”
$46M in losses at MTA bridges, tunnels
The Thruway Authority is not alone among tolling agencies that have witnessed a post-pandemic surge in folks trying to get out of paying fares and tolls.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority lost more than $700 million from fare and toll evasion on city subways, Metro-North Railroad, the Long Island Rail Road and bridges and tunnels in 2022, according to a report by a blue-ribbon panel in 2023.
