Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul said Canadians who drive on New York state toll roads are required to pay and promised the state will take the necessary steps to collect money.
Currently, cashless tolling exists at the Grand Island bridges in Western New York. The system scans license plates as vehicles enter the bridge and for those who don’t have an EZ Pass, the state sends a bill to their house.
However, the Buffalo News reported Monday, the state still does not have an agreement with the neighboring provinces of Ontario or Quebec to obtain vehicle registration information for their drivers.
“We have to make sure that we are capturing the money from the Canadians,” Hochul said. “Yes they are obligated to pay. There is no free ride.”
The lieutenant governor said Canadians who have EZ Passes are being charged like anybody else. She said other foreign drivers without the pass are supposed to go to a website to make the payments, but without a way to bill directly, it’s difficult to enforce.
“In my opinion, this is an injustice for any person to think that they can get a free ride because they don’t think it’s going to be enforced,” she said. It’s unfair to our local residents who are footing the bill and we’re going to get this right. I guarantee that.”
Read more from the NY State of Politics Blog
This content is brought to you by the FingerLakes1.com Team. Support our mission by visiting www.patreon.com/fl1 or learn how you send us your local content here.