For motorists in New York, the only things that may rival death and taxes as certainties are traffic and tolls — the latter of which, for the better part of the last 80 years, have been collected by hand.

Those near-certainties are soon to change.

In an effort to reduce congestion, tollbooths will be eliminated at all Metropolitan Transportation Authority bridges and tunnels next year, and replaced with automatic tolling, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Wednesday.

Instead of charging drivers who are stopped at toll plazas, the authority will use sensors and cameras to automatically charge cars that have been equipped with E-ZPass; those without it will have their license plates recorded by camera, and a bill will be mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle.

The move is part of a national trend, with tolling authorities adapting to E-ZPass or similar electronic toll systems, allowing participating drivers to whisk through toll plazas as the ever-shrinking cash-only lanes pile with traffic.