New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says the decision to change the state's license plate is because of the State Thruway’s new cashless tolling system, not a money grab.
Cuomo says the existing plates don’t work well with the new technology, which scans the plate and sends the owner of the car a bill. Live toll collectors are being phased out.
The new plates will start phasing in next April over a ten year period.
The governor says he understands people don’t want to pay for new license plates, but without them, he says Thruway toll collections will fall off causing problems for the highway.