The New York State Thruway (officially the Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway, colloquially "the Thruway", and abbreviated as "NYST") is a system of controlled-access highways spanning 569.83 miles (917.05 km) within the U.S. state of New York. It is operated by the New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA), a New York State public-benefit corporation. The 496.00-mile (798.23 km) mainline is a toll road that extends from the New York City line at The Bronx–Yonkers to the Pennsylvania state line at Ripley by way of Albany, Syracuse, and Buffalo. According to the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association, the Thruway is the fifth busiest toll road in the United States.
A tolled highway connecting the major cities of New York was first proposed as early as the 1940s. The first section of the Thruway, between Utica and Rochester, opened on June 24, 1954. The remainder of the mainline and many of its spurs connecting to highways in other states and provinces were built in the 1950s. In 1957, much of the Thruway system was included as portions of Interstate 87 (I-87), Interstate 90, and Interstate 95. Other segments became part of I-190 and I-287 shortly afterward. Today, the system comprises six highways: the New York–Ripley mainline, the Berkshire Connector, the Garden State Parkway Connector, the New England Thruway (I-95), the Niagara Thruway (I-190), and the Cross-Westchester Expressway (I-287). The portion of I-84 in New York was part of the Thruway system from 1991 to 2010.
The Thruway utilizes a combination of closed (ticket-based), and all-electronic (open road) tolling. Tickets are used on the Thruway mainline between Harriman and Williamsville and from Lackawanna to the Pennsylvania state line. The Berkshire Connector also utilizes a ticket-based tolling system. The New England Thruway (I-95), the Niagara Thruway (I-190) and the portion of the mainline south/east of Harriman use all-electronic tolling, with tolls paid using either E-ZPass or Tolls-By-Mail. The last two components—the Garden State Parkway Connector and the Cross-Westchester Expressway (I-287)—and the section of the mainline in and around Buffalo are toll-free. A proposed transition to cashless tolls would eliminate all toll booths and their operators by 2020. The thruway is partly subsidized by the tolls, whereas other parts are subsidized by NYSDOT, a 50/50 for the toll-free areas, and cashless/tolled areas.