Ask almost anyone who uses the New York State Thruway and they'll tell you that they don't want to spend any more money on tolls. One driver on the Thruway told us, "It's an inconvenience and it hits the pocketbook."

But the Thruway Authority wants to raise the tolls again. On top of a 10 percent increase in January, the authority wants to raise the tolls by 5 percent next year and another 5 percent in 2010. The authority blames rising construction costs and the mandate of running the state's canal system. Executive Director Michael Fleischer says, "We've reduced 450 jobs since 1995. We've tightened our belt. But if we don't get additional resources or significant mandate relief, the roads will deteriorate, the bridges will deteriorate and the public will not be served by that."

Officials from the authority listened to people at the State Fairgrounds. This is the third of five meetings they're having across the state to gauge people's feelings. This one follows others in Albany and Buffalo. At the Fairgrounds, they heard from people in the trucking business. One trucker says, "A further toll increase will in our case result in our avoiding the Thruway use as much as we possibly can."

Despite their concerns, the authority says it needs up to $400,000,000 in extra revenue over the next five years, on top of its $350,000,000 annual budget. Why? To keep roads in good driving condition and to maintain safety. But drivers find it hard to swallow a 10 percent increase over the next two years. Driver Steve Shangraw says, "My pay doesn't go up 10 percent at a time. I don't know about yours. Ten percent is a lot of money."

For those who use E-Z Pass, they're also considering cutting some of the discount later this year.