Thursday 24th June 1954

The first section of the New York State Thruway – a system of limited-access highways located within the state of New York in the United States.- between Utica and Rochester, opened. The remainder of the mainline and many of its spurs connecting to highways in other states and provinces were built in the 1950s. When the Interstate Highway System was created in 1957, much of the Thruway system was included as portions of Interstate 87 (I-87), I-90, and I-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 both open (barrier-based) tolling and closed (ticket-based) tolling. Tickets are used on the Thruway mainline between Harriman and the eastern suburbs of Buffalo and from the southern suburbs of Buffalo to the Pennsylvania state line. The Berkshire Connector also utilizes a ticket-based tolling system. The portion of the mainline south of Harriman, the New England Thruway, and the Niagara Thruway have open tolling systems, with all three highways containing at least one toll barrier. The last two components—the Garden State Parkway Connector and the Cross-Westchester Expressway—and the section of the mainline in and around Buffalo are toll-free.