NEW YORK, NY July 30, 2008 —The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is thinking about getting rid of toll plazas at its East and Harlem River crossings.

The agency is asking for bids from firms that would study how to replace the plazas with overhead structures that would read EZ Passes. For those cars without EZ Pass transponders, the equipment would take photographs of license plates and bill drivers separately.

The study will take 14 months. The Port Authority is also studying “cashless tolling” for its bridges and tunnels. The technology, which supporters say reduces traffic delays at collection points, is already in use in Texas, Florida, Israel and elsewhere.