Published: April 27, 2008 11:17 pm      

NYS THRUWAY: Area motorists miffed over increase

Motorists already are fuming over paying record highs for a gallon of regular gasoline.

The New York State Thruway Authority’s vote Friday to raise tolls on the highway system starting in July isn’t helping ease that pain.

“When you travel east out of the state, there’s no toll. When you travel west out of the state there’s no toll. Why do we have to pay a toll?” asked John Posch of the Town of Tonawanda.

Posch spends $14 a month driving to work in Niagara Falls, and that’s with the E-Z Pass discount. Some E-Z Pass discounts will be eliminated by July, while cash customers will see a 5 percent hike in January and another one in January 2010. This is all on top of the 10 percent hike that took effect four months ago.

With the average price of a gallon of regular gas in the Buffalo Niagara market at $3.71 — 30 cents more than it cost a month ago and 75 cents more than it did at this time last year, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report — digging for another nickel or dime isn’t sitting well with area drivers.

But the Thruway Authority’s board of directors says the toll hikes — which will bring in $125 million annually — are necessary to fund a $2.1 billion highway and bridge repair plan and offset the cost of operating the state canal system.

“The proposed toll adjustment will be phased in over time so it can be revisited if conditions change due to mandate relief or other measures,” the authority said in a statement Friday.

“It is important to stress again (that) even if fully implemented, the cost increase for passenger vehicles on the ticketed system would be less than a penny per mile while preserving the authority’s high levels of safety and service.”

Frank Mazzella is among the camp of people most affected by the increase. Mazzella, of West Falls, drives for Energy Retention, Inc. “I am forever on the Thruway,” said Mazzella, who was visiting with a friend in Niawanda Park on Sunday.

Mazzella said he paid $781 in tolls in the past year. “Every time I pay a toll, it (ticks) me off,” he said. For Mazzella, each toll hike further reminds him of the fact that the highway system was supposed to be free once its bonds were paid off more than 20 years ago.

“The tolls are an anachronistic tribute to a political system that should have passed away two decades ago,” he said.

This most recent round of increases also has re-energized debate over whether the Thruway Authority should even exist. Meanwhile, Erie County Legislator Michael H. Ranzenhofer introduced a resolution during the Legislature’s session last week opposing the increases and urging the Thruway Authority to immediately rescind them.

Contact reporter David J. Hill at 693-1000, ext. 115.