Thruway Service Areas Welcome a Record 800,000 Guests During July 4th Week

THRUWAY SERVICE AREAS WELCOME A RECORD 800,000 GUESTS DURING JULY 4TH WEEK

360,000 Guest Transactions Recorded at 27 Service Areas Across 570-Mile Thruway System

The New York State Thruway Authority and its Service Area Operator Applegreen today announced a record 800,000 guests visited the Thruway’s 27 Service Areas during the July 4th Independence Day travel week.

Additionally, more than 360,000 guest transactions were recorded during the week, or one in every two travelers that used a Thruway Service Area made a purchase.

“Welcoming a record number of customers during the recent Independence Day holiday week demonstrates the value of the private investment that was made in modernizing all 27 Thruway Service Areas over the last five years,” said Thruway Authority Executive Director Frank G. Hoare, Esq. “As Governor Hochul has said, government should work for the people, and this public-private partnership is a prime example of that commitment in action. These modern facilities play an important role in supporting safe travel by providing customers with convenient, reliable places to stop during their travels, all without the use of toll or taxpayer dollars. We remain focused on delivering a modern customer experience and maintaining the high level of service that travelers expect on the New York State Thruway.”

This marked the first July 4th holiday period since the completion of a private $450 million redevelopment project to upgrade and modernize all 27 Thruway Service Areas.  As part of the public-private partnership with Applegreen, 23 new Service Areas were built and four existing facilities were substantially renovated and upgraded. The project was privately funded and no toll or tax dollars were used for construction.

Applegreen’s 2,000 employees worked a total of 54,000 hours during the July 4th week to help ensure that a record number of guests could be served during the holiday period.

“Our goal with the New York Thruway investment program was to radically improve the Service Area product for our guests, and to provide them with a world-class roadside hospitality experience,” said Matthew Scally, Applegreen’s VP of Operations. “We have delivered modern, comfortable and sustainable areas across the Thruway and we were delighted to welcome so many travelers to our 27 Thruway sites for the July 4th week.”

The first three rebuilt Service Areas reopened to the public in 2022, and the $450 million upgrade was completed last November, just in time for Thanksgiving. Each of the new Service Areas has an Applegreen convenience store, and a range of branded food and coffee outlets, all of which are operated by Applegreen employees through partnership agreements. The upgrades also brought new amenities, such as outdoor pet walking areas, EV charging stations, nursing stations, improved commercial trucking services and farmers’ market locations. Through the Taste NY program, Applegreen’s 27 Thruway convenience stores also showcase almost 30 local New York food and beverage vendors. 

Applegreen operates all 27 Thruway Service Areas, conveniently located approximately every 40 to 50 miles along the Thruway. Open 24/7, 365 days a year, the Service Areas provide travelers with a safe place to rest, refuel and recharge. Since the beginning of 2025, they have welcomed more than 41 million visitors.

Thruway Service Area Numbers in Context

• The equivalent of the entire population of Seattle – or twice the population of Cleveland – visited a Thruway service area during the July 4th week.
• The Thruway’s 27 Service Areas each welcomed an average of more than 29,500 guests during the week of July 4.
• Combined, the Service Areas served an average of more than 4,700 customers per hour throughout the holiday week.

About the NYS Thruway Authority

Built in the early 1950s, the Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway is one of the oldest components of the National Interstate Highway System and one of the longest toll roads in the nation. It sets the standard for modern highway geometric design with safe roadway characteristics including smooth curves, wide medians and unobstructed driver sight distance. 

The maintenance and operation of the Thruway system is funded primarily by tolls. The Thruway Authority does not receive any dedicated federal, state or local tax dollars and is paid for by those who drive the Thruway, including one-third of drivers from out of state.

In 2025, motorists took more than 400 million trips and drove 8.2 billion miles on the Thruway. 

The Thruway Authority’s approved 2026 budget invests a total of more than $600 million in capital contracts scheduled to be awarded in 2026, an increase of more than $133.5 million from the 2025 budget projected totals, and one of the largest single-year investments in Thruway history. The 2026 budget includes a historic $2.8 billion Capital Plan for 2026-2030. The five-year plan will fund the replacement or preservation of 150 of the Thruway’s 819 bridges—about 18 percent—and the resurfacing of more than 1,500 of its 2,800 lane miles of highway, or roughly 60 percent.

Year after year, the Thruway system is recognized as one of the safest highways in the nation. In 2025, the Thruway-wide fatality rate was 0.36 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles travelled. The figure is significantly lower than the nationwide (estimated) traffic fatality rate for 2025 of 1.10 and the latest New York State (estimated) traffic fatality rate from 2025 of 0.83.

About Applegreen

Applegreen is one of the leading service/travel plaza operators in the United States, with 181 sites and more than 300 branded food outlets. Applegreen has invested more than $1 billion in the US since it entered the market in 2014 and employs about 8,000 people in its US operations during the peak summer period.

Applegreen is one of Ireland’s leading retail brands. It opened its first gas station in Dublin, Ireland in 1992 and now operates more than 435 locations and more than 700 branded food offers across its business in Ireland, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Applegreen currently employs about 16,900 people and it has further plans for growth in all of its major markets. Applegreen’s expansion plans are focused on acquiring and developing new sites in the markets in which it already operates, as well as upgrading and rebranding its existing locations.

Its latest accounts show a turnover of almost $4.6 billion and serves about 180 million customers annually.

###