FIRST HIGHWAY SPEED E-ZPASS LANES OPENED AT SPRING VALLEY

The New York State Thruway Authority opened its first highway speed E-ZPass lanes at the Spring Valley Toll Barrier in Rockland County on January 18, 2007. Commercial E-ZPass customers who previously had to pull off the highway to pay their toll at Spring Valley are now able to safely bypass the Toll Plaza and electronically pay their toll while traveling at highway speed.

Commercial E-ZPass customers can now enjoy enhanced service and improved traffic flow with the opening of the Highway Speed lanes at the Spring Valley Toll Barrier, which is used exclusively for commercial traffic. Commercial customers without E-ZPass should continue to pull off to the right and pay the cash toll at the Toll Barrier.

Vehicles that can use highway speed E-ZPass Lanes:

• Vehicles with an E-ZPass tag programmed for the specific vehicle they are operating
• Long tandem vehicles with an appropriately programmed E-ZPass tag
• Passenger vehicles with nothing in tow

Vehicles that must stop at the toll plaza:

• Commercial vehicles without E-ZPass
• Commercial vehicles that do not have an E-ZPass tag programmed for the specific vehicle they are operating
• Passenger vehicles with items (trailers, boats, etc) in tow

IMPORTANT: Long tandem operators should continue to stop at staffed lanes at all other toll plazas.

As demonstrated by other entities currently utilizing this technology, highway speed toll collection can process significantly more vehicles than staffed toll lanes. It is predicted that Highway Speed E-ZPass will eventually service up to 75 percent of traffic passing through a Toll Plaza during peak travel times.

The Authority’s future plans for deployment of additional Highway Speed E-ZPass lanes are underway. The Authority intends to begin work on Highway Speed E-ZPass at the Woodbury Toll Barrier in Orange County in 2007, and the Williamsville Toll Barrier in Erie County in the near future.