Toll booths on the New York State Thruway will be a thing of a past, and paying tolls with cash will no longer be an option for motorists statewide once the Thruway Authority switches to cashless tolling at the end of 2020.

Still, toll hikes could loom for some Thruway motorists in 2021.

Construction is already underway to install gantries with sensors and cameras above the highway that will read E-ZPass tags of vehicles as they pass underneath. For motorists without E-ZPass tags, cameras will take photos of their vehicles and bills will be mailed to the registered owners of the vehicles, the Authority said. Motorists without an E-ZPass tag will be able to pay their tolls by mail, online or over the phone.

Authority officials said a date has not been set for the system to go live across the 560-mile Thruway, but it’s expected by the end of the year. Officials said the whole system must go live at the same time.

Tolls will remain frozen through the end of 2020, but tolls could increase for certain Thruway users next year under a proposal approved by Authority leadership in December.

Under the proposed plan, tolls would remain the same for in-state E-ZPass customers in 2021 except for those using the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, which connects Rockland and Westchester counties. Cashless tolling started in 2016 on the old Tappan Zee Bridge.

Motorists using the toll-by-mail program would pay 30 percent above the in-state E-ZPass rate and also face a $2 administrative charge on each bill, under the proposal. Customers with an out-of-state E-ZPass would pay 15 percent more than the in-state rate.

The Mario M. Cuomo Bridge would see the largest hikes under the plan. The current rates of $3 under an E-ZPass commuter program, $4.75 for a standard in-state E-ZPass and $5 for an out-of-state E-ZPass or Tolls by Mail would increase in 2021 to $3.15 for a commuter E-ZPass, $5.25 for an in-state E-ZPass, $6.04 for an out-of-state E-ZPass and $6.83 for tolls by mail, along with the proposed $2 fee on Tolls by Mail bills.

In 2022, further increases are proposed, to $3.45 for a commuter E-ZPass, $5.75 for an in-state E-ZPass, $6.61 for an out-of-state E-ZPass and $7.48 for Tolls-by-Mail, along with the $2 surcharge.

The Authority said the proposed toll hikes still have to go through a public hearing process.

Cashless tolling will be implemented along the entire 426-mile “Main Line” of the Thruway from New York City to Buffalo (interstate Routes 87 and 90). Other elements of the system include the New England Thruway (interstate Route 95), The Cross Westchester Expressway (interstate Route 287), the Garden State Parkway Connector, the Berkshire Connector (interstate Route 90), The Niagara Thruway (interstate Route 190) and the Erie Section (interstate Route 90), the agency said.

The $355.3 million project was awarded to Cashless Tolling Constructors LLC, through a competitive bidding process, the authority said. The project calls for the installation of cashless tolling gantries and the removal of toll booths at 52 interchanges and toll barriers across the state.

Unlike the Massachusetts Turnpike, where all of the gantries are located out on the open highway, some of the gantries on the Thruway will be over the highway and others will be over exit ramps.

The Authority said gantries over the highway will be located at the highest volume locations and/or connections to other interstate highways, but that gantries on entrance and exit ramps have proved the most cost-effective in areas with lower traffic volumes.

Officials said highway gantry systems will be installed by Kapsch TrafficCom USA, which will remotely monitor and maintain the system. The Authority will provide on-site maintenance.

The Authority, which has developed a cashless tolling in-lane system to be installed at the ramp gantries, will remotely monitor and provide on-site maintenance for that system.

Conduent, the contractor for E-ZPass and Tolls by Mail, will continue billing for each of the in-lane tolling systems.

Officials did not say how much money the Authority is expected to save as a result of cashless tolling, but emphasized the primary goal is to encourage free-flowing traffic on the Thruway.

“Cashless tolling is the future of tolling,” the Authority said. “Its benefits including reducing congestion (and) improving traffic flow; (it) is better for the environment and allows for non-stop travel on New York’s toll roads, bridges and tunnels.”

The first phase is the installation of the gantries on the Thruway and ramps which started last fall. The second phase is the removal of the toll plazas in 2021, the Authority said.

The contractor decides on the installation schedule, the Authority said.

The Authority noted that just because a gantry is installed, that does not mean cashless tolling is in place at the location. Instead, equipment will be installed on the gantries and tested for several months before the system goes live.

Once the system is in operation, signs on the Thruway and its ramps will alert motorists of the cashless tolling system. Those signs already exist at seven fixed toll barriers that already use cashless tolling. Ten signs will be placed at each gantry (five in each direction), the Authority said.

Thruway officials said they are seeking to avoid billing issues that cropped up when cashless tolling was introduced at the Tappan Zee Bridge through an education program, upgrades to the Tolls by Mail website and the Customer Service Center, and with increased signage along the Thruway.

Officials said it’s important for motorists who use the Tolls by Mail program to keep their addresses up to date on their vehicle registrations, as required by law.

The Authority said it has created the office of the Toll Payer Advocate to assist customers in resolving toll violations.

Asked if cashless tolling will lead to increased toll evasion, the Authority said it collected 93 percent of toll revenues from 2016-2019 under cashless tolling on the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, with the remaining 7 percent of toll revenues subject to the collection process.

“The vast majority of Thruway customers pay their tolls,” the Authority said.

Officials emphasized that the easiest away for customers to pay their tolls is by signing up for E-ZPass.

Thruway officials did not say how many employees will be affected by the switch to cashless tolling, but noted that as of February, more than half of the full-time toll staff are eligible for retirement by the end of 2020.

For those not taking the retirement package, the Authority said it has commenced a “detailed outreach program, including dedicated resources to connect all impacted toll staff with future professional career opportunities and potential career paths.” Since cashless tolling was announced in January 2018.

Authority officials said the employee resources included cashless tolling outreach sessions for staff, training programs such as resume writing, interviewing skills, and workshops detailing the Civil Service system, as well as additional training courses.

The Authority said it has also offered affected staff members incentives such as enrollment in CDL-B Training Programs and Tuition Assistance to help further their careers at and beyond the Thruway Authority.

The Authority said the number of toll collectors has declined since 1993, when E-ZPass was introduced, and as the transponders grew more popular with motorists.

“The Thruway Authority’s toll collection workforce has been the backbone of our organization for more than five decades and will continue to be through the transition to system-wide cashless tolling by the end of 2020,” the Authority said.

Several calls to Teamsters Local 72, which represents Thruway toll workers, were not returned.

In 2021, demolition will begin on the toll booths at interchanges and the larger toll barriers along the highway. That work, along with realigning interchanges, is expected to last through the year, the Authority said. At Exit 17 in Newburgh, the plaza structure will remain, but the toll booths will be removed, with motorists driving through at the posted speed limit.

The Authority said motorists can expect lane closures and traffic shifts on the highway and at interchanges during the project.