New York's tollbooths will start disappearing next month

A New Year's resolution: less traffic in NYC. Starting in January, the cash tollbooths of all New York bridges and tunnels will begin being removed, saving New York drivers about 21 hours a year that would otherwise be spend idling in traffic. The change isn’t coming in time to help with holiday traffic, unfortunately, but we’ll take it.

The Henry Hudson and Tappan Zee bridges have already implemented the change, fully converting to electronic tolls. That means that if you don’t have an E-ZPass, you’ll receive a bill in the mail—no more paying by cash and slowing up traffic.

In January, the first new location to switch over will be the Queens Midtown and Hugh L Carey tunnels. The Rockaway bridges will make the swap in spring, making your commute to the beach that much easier this summer. It’s followed by the RFK and Verrazono-Narrows bridges in summer and the Bronx-Whitestone and Throgs Neck bridges in the fall.