Governor Andrew Cuomo's $500 million plan to automate toll payment at the MTA's bridges and tunnels did not get an easy pass from some of the agency's board members.
Earlier this month, Cuomo said the MTA's seven bridges and two tunnels in the city will eliminate toll booths in an effort to speed traffic flow.
But at an MTA committee meeting Wednesday, some board members questioned how the agency plans to fund the accelerated rollout of the so-called Open Road Tolling project. It is set to start early next year at the Queens Midtown and Hugh Carey-Brooklyn Battery tunnels.
"It would be great to advance this soon, but I am concerned about the pace of this, basically because we're being asked to vote on something in this committee, advance it to the full board, for which we don't know the full cost of," said MTA Board Member Veronica Vanterpool.
The MTA says all but $35 million for the project designed to help drivers will come from previous capital programs.
"Something which is a benefit to reduce the amount of time they're going to spend, and ORT will do that, we want to be aggressive with," said MTA Chairman and CEO Thomas Prendergast.
The agency says tolls at all its bridges and tunnels should be automated by 2018.