Truckers may steer clear of Thruway if tolls are raised

ALBANY — The New York State Thruway Authority’s plan to raise tolls to make up for fewer-than-expected drivers could push even more traffic off the highway, according to truckers. The authority — which operates and maintains the 641-mile superhighway — last month floated a plan to increase cash tolls by 5 percent in 2009, and another 5 percent in 2010. A 10-percent hike is already scheduled to begin next month. Thruway managers say the hikes are needed because there haven’t been enough drivers using the highway to pay for a $2.1 billion highway and bridge repair plan. Terry Button, who delivers hay from his family’s western New York farm to race tracks and feed stores throughout the East Coast, said he’s been doing his best to keep off the Thruway since a 35 percent toll hike for trucks in May 2005. Although alternate routes take longer, in the end they can be more cost effective, after figuring in the cost of fuel and other expenses that an independent operator has to cover, Button said. “If they raise the tolls again, I’ll avoid the Thruway altogether,” he said. In 2006, trucks paid $220.7 million in Thruway tolls, up from $200.1 million in 2005. The Thruway collected $554.4 million in tolls in 2006. The Thruway Authority on Dec. 11 initially provided numbers to the Associated Press that showed 29 million trucks traveled on the Thruway in 2006, down 10.8 percent from 2005. Later, John Bryan, the agency’s finance chief said those figures aren’t accurate because in 2005 trucks pulling two-trailers were counted twice. He said truck traffic has been flat from 2005 through but he couldn’t immediately provide data to support that claim. Assembly Republicans this week finished a series of hearings on the toll hikes that focused on how higher tolls would affect the state’s economy. In Ohio, officials lowered tolls about 25 percent and raised the speed limit for trucks on the Ohio Turnpike to lure big rigs back after a series of hikes over five years raised tolls 80 percent. Truck traffic is up about 23 percent since the toll rollback and other changes were made in 2004.