Under pressure from Governor Cuomo, the State Thruway Authority has backed off on plans for a 45-percent toll increase for trucks.
The proposal for the major hike in truck tolls met almost unanimous opposition. The authority instead is making major spending and staff cuts, most visibly in State Police patrols on the toll road to deal with its troubled finances.
That includes ending the system of paying the State Police for constant patrolling of the toll road, instead paying for some patrol. Troopers have patrolled the road since it opened in 1954.
Executive Director Thomas Madison says under a new plan, the authority is cutting $25 million in operating costs in 2012, with more than $130 million in savings and reforms targeted over the next three years. $900 million in "risky, short-term debt" is being eliminated.
"The Thruway and the state will also work together to find new opportunities for shared services. In our proposed 2013 budget, the operating portion is 21 percent below our 2012 operating budget," Madison said Monday."
It's not clear what those shared spending projects will be although the authority has been under pressure to work much more closely with the State Transportation Department.
