MTA Approves Bridge And Tunnel Fare Hikes

Photograph by Triborough on Flickr

As the MTA continues to struggle to close its $800 million budget gap, drivers will now have to dig deeper into their pockets to pony up the cash to cross the city's bridges and tunnels. In a measure approved 12-1 today by the MTA board, fares will increase in January by about 18% for drivers paying cash, but only about 5% for those using EZ-Pass. According to a statement sent out by the MTA, fares at the Queens-Midtown Tunnel and Throgs Neck bridge will increase by one dollar (to $6.50) for those paying cash and 23 cents (to $4.80) for those using EZ-Pass. Over at the Verrazano, the cash toll will increase by 2 dollars (bringing the cost of crossing the bridge to $13), and those using EZ-Pass will pay $9.60.

Other crossings controlled by the MTA include the Robert F. Kennedy and Bronx-Whitestone bridges, the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, and smaller crossings like the Henry Hudson Bridge—users of those bridges can expect a similar hike as well. MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan says the MTA "intends to introduce a new card next year that will allow customers to go to hundreds of retail locations in the region and reload their E-ZPass accounts with cash using the same process that prepaid debit card customers use to reload these cards today. This card will be linked to customer’s E-ZPass accounts and will permit customers to refill their accounts with cash through an existing debit card network."

Note that the MTA only controls bridges and tunnels that operate within city limits; those that cross the Hudson are run by the Port-Authority and won't be subject to a fare hike (yet).

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By Dan Myers in News on October 27, 2010 6:04 PM

Comments [rss]

nycnewsjunkie

NYS pays more in tolls than any other state and 2X and much as the next state, NJ. Most of these tolls come from the MTA.

Ezpass isnt always the fastest lane at tolls. Non-rush hour times, mostly on the wkends, the cash lines are long but there are times during rush hour where cash moves faster than ezpass. Ive taken down my ezpass countless times because the cash lane is empty.

Manitoba

You can use your ezpass in the cash lanes. Plus, just because you take it down, it can still be detected (and charged) unless you put it in the foil (or similar material) pouch they give you.

bashmentgirl

This is BS!!!!! The MTA is encouraging the use of EZ pass as a way of eventually laying off toll both workers. How is laying people off going to benefit our economy ? I'm tired of the MTA and their damn hikes!!!! Rich people are always saying how they've "earned" their money. How they are "worth" the big bucks they're paid. Well Jay Walder, I will tell you that SAVING MONEY BY LAYING PEOPLE OFF AND INSTITUTING FARE HIKES IS NOT CREATIVE!!! WHAT THE HELL ARE WE PAYING YOU FOR!!!!!

jaycjay

I'm far from a fan of Walder, but like any executive what he's paid to do is to further the interests of his corporation. It's not his job to save the economy of the city or the region that the corporation which employs him operates in.

random transplant

He runs monopoly which oversee's execution of what the constitution reffered to as Common Carier laws & services.

The MTA is not a bussiness. The MTA is a subcontracted arm of government.

Your benchmarks are entirely wrong.

jaycjay

What I would say is "wrong" is your understanding of the Public Authorities Law, and of the history and issues regarding those authorities in New York State.

random transplant

The MTA is granted specific monoloply powers.

The MTA does not abide by normal rules of accounting.

My understanding of its charter is not relevant to the reality that it is not a "business" in any meaningful sense of the word.

To claim that the MTA's leadership can use profit as a primary motivation is to claim that the MTA has no reason to exist.

Manitoba

Of course, that's why the ezpass hike is less; it costs the MTA less to collect tolls from ezpass customers. Toll employees are likely expensive with benefits, union contracts, pensions, etc., so if everyone used an ezpass, you know the workers would get canned.

whitecastlerock

Fuck the MTA...

Manitoba

Yeah! Let's do it! Let's go fuck 'em! In the ass!!! Come on... who's with me?!?!?

Anyone?

diablofreak

mta actually did some good here. forcing people to use e-z pass with the huge differential between cash and ez-pass rate

i hate it when traffic from the cash lane back up to the bridges or tunnels forcing the ez-pass cars to wait as well.

and rofl at people still trying to live their lives in Staten Island

starstruck13

The only reason that I still live there (and this goes for the majority of people that I know) is because the rent is affordable. I refuse to pay 1000+ for a friggen studio...or live in a neighborhood where I have to carry around a knife just to feel safe walking home at night.

glennQNYC

Assuming this increase will not effect people who do not own a car is silly. This toll will effect every product and service that doesn’t travel by air or rail. It also effects people who use a vehicle for work and do not have a mass transit option.

gagneur

If the car lobby would let mta toll east river bridges we could drop all other tolls to $5 and still come out ahead. Note that the Brooklyn Bridge is undergoing a $500 million rehab. Who's paying for that?

Manitoba

I could be wrong, but I don't think the MTA has any control over the Brooklyn or Manhattan (among others) bridges. I think it's the NYC DOT; feel free to correct me if not.

But, as far as I know, tolls on the East River would just go straight to NYC... well, at least after Albany takes its 90% cut.

jaycjay

Yep, the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge are operated by the NYC Department of Transportation, as are the Williamsburg and the Queensboro. MTA has nothing to do with them.

starstruck13

This is insane. When the Verrazano was $10 it was the most expensive bridge toll in the USA. Now its $13??! I live on the south shore of Staten Island where transit is a joke. If I want to get anywhere after 8pm or on a weekend, I need to own a car. I don't drive to Brooklyn often, so the idea of getting an EZ pass just to get the discount is ridiculous. I think that if you live in the boroughs, you shouldn't have to pay the tolls-any of them. I mean, wasn't this bridge supposed to be free once it was paid off?

Tower18

I don't drive to Brooklyn often, so the idea of getting an EZ pass just to get the discount is ridiculous.

I don't understand...why is it ridiculous to save money? I have an EZ pass and I don't even own a car.

Manitoba

The whole "pay it off" thing is an urban legend; as far as I know, that was never actually true.

I had always though S.I. residents got a discount of some sort, but I realize I'm wrong. Honestly, that seems pretty awful. Should be 50% off if your plate is registered with an S.I. address.

What I think is almost more criminal is that they've refused for years to establish any way for pedestrians or cyclists to cross, so the only way to get over is pay out the ass and drive.

starstruck13

Yeah, you only get a discount if you have an EZpass. Honestly, considering the only "free" way off the island (and then getting back home) is by taking the ferry, I don't think SI residents should have to pay at all. I know you may think Im biased, but Ive always believed that, even when I didn't live there. Its not right that the only way to make a decent living is by working off the island, but then having to pay insane tolls to do so.

The pay it off thing was in the paper...majority of my family has lived on SI their entire lives so Im inclined to believe them.