Welcome, New York City. Last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his state's Metropolitan Transportation Authority would bring its tolling system up to date with the times—or at least with the early 90s. By the end of 2017, the nine tolled crossings controlled by the MTA will join toll roads across the US—in Colorado, California's Bay Area, and most of Washington State, among others—in going all-electronic. Yes, New York is done with cash.

Henceforth, drivers will whiz by sensors and cameras, which can read and charge transponders registered to specific cars (easterners know them as EZ-Pass readers, Californians call them FasTrak). For transponder-free cars—the ones that usually come with cash—the system will read the license plate, pull up the owner's address, and mail her the bill. Drivers can pay by credit card online, or by mailing in cash, a check, or money order.

No more straining to pull crumpled dollar bills from pockets or digging around for loose change. No more waiting in line to fork over tolls. And no more morning greetings from the neighborhood booth worker. Sounds nice—but it's not a slam dunk.

The MTA will shell out $500 million for a plan that will probably fail to convince all New Yorkers to pay their tolls. (Part of that money will also go toward a new lighting scheme to pretty up the bridges, including the Whitestone, Throgs Neck, and Verrazano–Narrows.)

During a two-year pilot of this cashless option on the city's Henry Hudson Bridge, six percent of drivers got their bills in the mail. Two-thirds of them never paid, according to the city—racking up $24 million in unpaid tolls and overdue fines.