MTA May Say Farewell to Arms (Reaching from Toll Booths)

The MTA is about to start turning the wheels in motion towards transitioning their bridges and tunnels to be entirely registered by electronic scans, eliminating toll booths altogether—potentially affecting the Midtown Tunnel, the Battery Tunnel, the Verrazano Bridge and the RFK Bridge. The agency is expected to begin a study for a little over a year to figure out the best way to operate the crossings via a transponder attached to your car or a video camera that focuses on passing license plates. A spokeswoman told the Post, "We will use the upcoming study to consider all implementation options at this point." The other toll crossings operated by the Port Authority have been under the scope of a similar study since 2007. Collecting entirely by scanning was a major part of the discussions prompted by the Ravitch Comission, which concluded that introducing a toll to all of the East River passages could avoid a severe fare hike for subway and bus commuters.