N.Y. Improperly Spending Toll Revenue, ATA Says in Lawsuit
Officials with the New York State Thruway, a major artery for commercial trucking, are improperly spending millions of dollars in toll revenues annually on the state’s mostly recreational canal system, according to a federal class action lawsuit filed Nov. 14 by American Trucking Associations.
“The New York State Thruway Authority, which manages both the thruway itself and the canals, drastically overcharges commercial truckers for the use of the roads that it administers,” the lawsuit said.
“The thruway authority then siphons off the extra toll money, not to maintain or improve the roads that the truckers are paying to use, but to support the canal system as a tourist attraction.”
The lawsuit, filed in federal district court in New York on behalf of all individuals and truckers who have used the thruway since November 2010, seeks unspecified monetary damages and to block future use of toll monies on the 524-mile canal system.
“During these times of underfunding highway infrastructure, we cannot afford to have tolling authorities take the money users pay for maintenance and upkeep of the roadways and use it for recreational or other unrelated purposes,” ATA President Bill Graves said in a statement. “When truckers pay for access to the thruway, tens of millions of dollars of their toll payments go to the steep costs of the canal system, which they derive no benefit from.”
ATA said spending the toll revenues on the canal system is unconstitutional, a violation of the federal Commerce Clause.
The lawsuit said that a report recently issued by the Office of the New York State Comptroller said the thruway authority has expended $1.1 billion on the canal system since taking over management of it in 1992.
