BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The New York State Thruway is taking new measures against drivers who avoid paying tolls, and that's to ban them from using the thruway.
A thruway spokesperson told me that the NYS Thruway Authority is missing $40 million in fees from drivers who haven't paid tolls and 90 percent of its revenue comes from tolls.
This new regulation to ban drivers would be enforced through license plates, the same way police enforce suspended registrations.
Drivers try to avoid being stopped for tolls through ghost plates, a process of using fake license plates. Authorities in New York City have been stopping dozens of drivers who have ghost plates.
I went out and spoke to drivers to share their voices on the possibility of other drivers being banned from the thruway due to unpaid tolls.
"If you don’t feel you can pay, just don’t drive on it," said Mark Nemerow of Depew, who has been a truck driver for 50 years
"If you're driving on the thruway you should pay like everyone else does," said Jeffrey McDonald of Amherst, who is a tow truck driver. "We use the thruway all the time with the towing company, and I'm sure it costs my boss a lot of money."
"Freeways got to be paid for," said David Michael Oxendine who travels up to Buffalo from North Carolina often, referring to the investments that Thruway Authority makes in infrastructure.
