The most recent set of state Thruway toll hikes is the straw that broke the camel’s back for one Republican member of the state Senate.

Sen. Mark Walczyk, R-Watertown, recently introduced legislation (S.8341) to dissolve the state Thruway Authority and instead have the state Transportation Department take over management of the Thruway.

Higher tolls took effect Jan. 1 after the Thruway Authority Board of Directors approved the new rates in September. Base NY E-ZPass rate increased by 5% outside of the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge. A second 5% increase will take effect in January 2027. Standard toll rates for non-NY E-ZPass and Tolls by Mail will increase to 8.6 cents per mile for both groups by 2027.

Beginning January 1, non-NY E-ZPass and Tolls by Mail customers pay 75% more than E-ZPass customers.

Tolls on the Thruway were supposed to end in 1996 when initial construction bonds were paid off, but the tolls remained when the bonds were paid off in 1992.

“The New York State Thruway Authority must be abolished. Unfortunately, it has cost New Yorkers a great deal of money since its inception,” Walczyk wrote in his legislative justification. “The main purpose of the Thruway Authority was to manage the Thruway in its infancy, when it was paid for with bonds. To generate revenue to pay off said bonds, the State utilized tolls. The Governor at the time, Thomas Dewey, promised that tolls would go away once the bonds were paid for. The bonds were paid off in 1992, but the tolls remain. In recent years, tolls have increased dramatically as well. New Yorkers deserve better.”

It’s unlikely Walczyk’s bill makes it out of committee given his status in the Senate minority, but Senate Democrats have expressed displeasure with Thruway Authority actions in the past year as well.

A 2021 contract the Thruway Authority signed with Irish convenience store chain Applegreen brought changes to the Thruway’s rest stops, including the addition of Chick-fil-A to some stops. State Sen. Michelle Hinchey, D-Kingston, has introduced legislation (S.7794) adding a new section of state law requiring any contracts entered into by the New York State Thruway Authority for the operation of food services at public transportation facilities be provided every day of the week. The requirement would also apply to transportation facilities owned by the New York Port Authority.

“While there is nothing objectionable about a fast food restaurant closing on a particular day of the week, service areas dedicated to travelers is an inappropriate location for such a restaurant,” Hinchey wrote in her legislative justification. “Publicly owned service areas should use their space to maximally benefit the public. Allowing for retail space to go unused one seventh of the week or more is a disservice and unnecessary inconvenience to travelers who rely on these service areas.”

Several legislators on both sides of the political aisle, including state Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, have also been critical of the Thruway Authority’s rest stop redesigns.

“I want to associate myself with the comments by my colleagues on the new service areas,” Borrello said during budget deliberations last winter. “They are small, they’re crowded and they are already, in my opinion, not consistent in their hours. But this company out of Ireland, I believe, I’m trying to figure out what qualifications they had to build Thruway Authority rest areas. The only qualifications I could find is they made the right political donations. Why are they operating? How did they get this contract?”