Tolls will go up at all the New York State Bridge Authority crossings, including the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge, as of midnight this Saturday, May 1.

Tolls for non-commercial vehicles, including cars, pickup trucks and motorcycles, will increase from $1.35 to $1.45 for motorists with an E-ZPass. Cash tolls for those without an E-ZPass will remain at $1.75. Motorists on an E-Zpass commuter plan will see the toll for each crossing jump from $1.10 to $1.20.

The new rates will remain in effect until April 30, 2022, when they will increase again as part of a four-year phased-in toll increase program, the agency said in a press release.

Under the four-year program, a 10-cent increase in E-ZPass tolls will take effect on May 1 each year through 2023. E-ZPass tagholders make up a vast majority of customers using the spans, agency officials stated.

"The new toll rate schedule was set in early 2020 after a lengthy public review and regulatory process," the release stated.

Agency officials said the authority receives no state or federal tax dollars. Ninety-seven percent of its revenue comes from tolls, which are invested back into capital improvements on its bridge. Besides the Kingston-Rhinecliff, NYSBA also runs things at the Mid-Hudson Bridge, the Rip Van Winkle Bridge, the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge and the Bear Mountain Bridge.

The authority said the increased tolls will help finance bridge infrastructure improvement projects, like a deck replacement project on the north span of the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge which carries westbound traffic on I-84. Officials expect that project to wrap up in fall 2022.

While the New York State Thruway Authority recently shifted the entire Thruway system to cashless tolling late last year and is in the process of tearing out all the remaining toll booths, Bridge Authority officials previously told Kingston Wire they have no plans to implement cashless tolling on the Hudson River spans in the near future.

Still, agency officials urge motorists to sign up for an E-ZPass online at www.e-zpassny.com, at a full-service toll lane at the bridge or in select retail locations statewide.