From NY1:It was a little tough to hear above all the noise about subway and bus fare hikes at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's recent public hearings. However, drivers will also get caught in the agency's budget gap, when tolls go up next year.
"We've had two in the past 18 months, and we really think it's unfair to motorists," said Robert Sinclair, a spokesman for AAA of New York. "The tolls that are collected are about 300 percent of what it takes to maintain the facilities."
Given their deep financial hole, MTA officials say both transit fares and the tolls on its nine bridges and tunnels must go up, starting in January.
At the major crossings, the proposed cash toll would increase from $5.50 a trip to $6.
On smaller spans like the Marine Parkway and the Cross Bay, where the toll is now $2.75, the cash charge would go up to $3. The Henry Hudson Bridge will go from $3 to $3.50.
E-ZPass drivers, who get about a dollar discount on all the crossings, would face a 10 percent hike per trip.
AAA officials says drivers, socked with a new $50 vehicle registration fee as part of last year's MTA bailout, are a too-easy target.
"We are actually subsidizing mass transit, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but we think there needs to be some equity," says Sinclair.
Subsidized or not, transit advocates saying straphangers should not be asked to pay more and get less service. They have renewed their call to introduce tolls on the city's East River bridges. They also want to revive Mayor Michael Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan, which would charge drivers to enter much of Manhattan, probably below 96th Street, at the busiest times of the day.
AAA opposes both moves, which are out of the MTA's hands and up to the state Legislature.
21 comments:
I ride my harley as long as the temps stay above 38 degrees.Approx 40mpg in the street,the tolls cost less than $2 w/e-z pass. Love all those new bike lanes too!It's great until some asshole texting or chceking their gps kills me..........
Congestion pricing is discriminatory to Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and the Bronx.
The bridges are long paid for and the tolls should be lowered for maintenance fund of each span. E-Zpass was designed to eliminate toll-takers but they remain, regardless. The MTA has huge salaries at the managerial and executive level. WE should not be subsidizing their incompetency.
only in new york do u have to pay to go from one part of the same city to another part of the same city...think about it.
Hah! AAA bleating out the same flawed over and over again. Toll the East and Harlem River bridges already!
A comparable crossing in Baltimore (Fort McHenry Tunnel) is $2. We educated our kids outside of New York and did not encourage them to move back. They picked livable cities to live in and we'll abandon New York when retirement comes. Will the last one turn the lights out when they leave.
Why can't Mayor Moneybags bail out the MTA and take it over as one of his private companies? The bailout money for him would be chump change and of course, he would make a profit by acquiring another company. Too bad Obama couldn't allocate stimulus money to help the transportation issues for the people of NY. Why couldn't he bail out the MTA?
"Whatever the traffic will bear!".
I say restore the Northern State Pkway and Southern State Pkway tolls. Add tolls to Kosciuszko, Pulaski, and Byrne/Greenpoint Bridge, or any natural traffic constriction.
Create EZ-Pass only zones and charge a toll to enter them.
Most of the funds go to mass transit. Why not charge the subway rider the true cost of the trip.
Of course you know that NYC Transit riders pay a greater share of the cost of their ride than any other transit system in this country.
The true cost of a ride? What would happen if the MTA tried doubling local bus or subway fares or even more than that for express bus rides? What would people here be saying?
STATEN ISLAND RESIDENTS who use public transit GO TO MANHATTAN FOR FREE....START CHARGING THEM THE WAY THEY CHARGE US HERE IN QUEENS, THE STEPCHILD OF THE CITY!!!!
This is a VERY INEQUITABLE system. The MTA has to be cooking its books. All they ever do is raise fares and then cut back service. How can this be???? Where is the audit????
Just because the rest of the country is more stupid for subsidizing mass transit at higher rate than NYC doesn't mean that there's an obligation here to screw non-transit-using taxpayers for the sake of the transit-using taxpayers and transit-using non-taxpayers.
Phase-in the real (i.e unsubsidized) costs of the MTA on its customers.
The Kaps-Lock Klowns reappear.
Anon No. 11: What would happen if the MTA proposed that? Who would support them? Can you think of one elected official in city or state government from either party who will back them up?
"Phase-in the real (i.e unsubsidized) costs of the MTA on its customers."
Sure, as long as we do the same for drivers. I guarantee you won't like the outcome.
Why can't they bring back the commuter tax? That would bring in a ton of money. Sheldon Silver stopped that tax. How many times must the fares be raised? We are paying for the inefficiency of the MTA. Why hasn't there been an audit? Why hasn't there been a bailout? How many times can they raise the fares? Why can't they cut the MTA Board salaries? They aren't doing a very effective job, yet they all earn six figures. There has to be a better way than to balance their budget on the backs of the taxpayers.
The MTA Board doesn't get paid.
The MTA Board doesn't get paid.
The MTA Board doesn't get laid.
Which may say something about Paul McCartney.
Out of control.
Let's tax the rich to pay for the problems they created.
What a concept.
Why couldn't he bail out the MTA?
You mean MORE CORPORATE WELFARE? Isn't that what our fares go to already?
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