Objective

To determine whether the New York State Thruway Authority ensures that New York State Thruway users are accurately billed for the correct amounts and that customer billing issues are addressed. The audit covered the period January 2019 to October 2023.

About the Program

The New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA), a New York State public benefit corporation, operates the New York State Thruway (Thruway), a 570-mile superhighway that connects the State’s principal cities, rural areas, and tourist destinations. The Thruway comprises 496 miles including the mainline from the New York City line at Yonkers to Buffalo and the Erie Section. There are an additional five segments: Niagara Section, Berkshire Section, New England Section, Garden State Parkway Connector, and Cross Westchester Expressway. It has 817 bridges, 137 interchanges, and 27 travel plazas. NYSTA is vested by New York State laws and regulations to assess and collect toll revenues for use of the Thruway.

To reduce congestion, improve traffic flow, and allow for non-stop travel on the Thruway, in November 2020, NYSTA completed a system-wide conversion to cashless tolling using the E-ZPass system. Tolls may be charged through NY E-ZPass, Non-NY E-ZPass, or Tolls By Mail. Customers may obtain an E-ZPass transponder (tag) to use in their vehicle by completing an application. NYSTA also offers discounts or non-revenue plans to specific categories of customers, allowing them to travel on the Thruway at a lower cost or without paying tolls. The Thruway system consists of barrier segments, where the toll at each plaza is based on fixed amounts, and mainline segments, where the toll is based on the distance between the vehicle entry and exit points. NYSTA contracts with third-party vendors for cashless tolling, invoicing, and receivables collection.

In December 2019, NYSTA established the Office of the Toll Payer Advocate to assist customers in resolving toll-related issues such as fees for late payments.

Our prior audit report, Selected Aspects of Toll Collections (2022-S-15), issued on May 26, 2023, assessed whether NYSTA effectively identified, billed, and collected tolls due, and found that improvements were needed. Key findings revealed significant gaps in toll collection efforts including $276.3 million in unpaid tolls and fees, with 43% owed by out-of-state drivers. Other issues included a 9½-month gap in collection agency services and inefficiencies in processing rejected toll images, resulting in lost revenue.

Key Findings

NYSTA generally ensures accurate billing for most transactions, with a limited number of exceptions. For instance, for a 3-week period reviewed, 44,286 transactions involving interchange 25A appeared to have been inaccurately billed. This represents around 5% of such transactions reviewed and highlights the need for error monitoring and corrective actions even when the system is generally accurate. 

Additionally, the agency lacks thorough documentation for fee reductions, eligibility verification for certain toll discounts for residents and non-revenue E-ZPass tags, as well as effective procedures for handling undeliverable mail. These gaps suggest that while NYSTA has systems in place, there are areas requiring improvement to ensure consistent accuracy in billing and responsiveness to customer concerns.

Key Recommendations

• Periodically review transactions to ensure tolls were correctly charged, identify the cause of incorrect charges, take appropriate action to prevent it from recurring, and document those where no action is deemed necessary.
• Follow NYSTA policies for violation fee reductions and waivers. If exceptions are warranted, document the reasons why.
• Maintain documents to support the initial and continued eligibility for non-revenue and resident discount tags and periodically recertify the eligibility of these customers.
• Establish a system to internally flag undeliverable mail to owners of New York and Massachusetts registered vehicles and notify the Department of Motor Vehicles of returned correspondence.