As the MTA looks for any possible source of revenue, it has made a bold suggestion: The agency wants city departments to pay tolls over MTA bridge and tunnel crossings. As WCBS 2 puts it, that includes "firefighters and police responding to emergencies or calls to service." Currently, those city departments are using about 11,000 free E-ZPass tags, so if the MTA gets its way, then the city would need to pay for the approximate 300,000 crossings each year. (The MTA also emphasizes it wouldn't stop responders heading to a scene.) A spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg called it "an underhanded attempt to increase the city's already large subsidy of the MTA by charging the city for responding to emergencies or performing other essential services." Uh, the city's subsidy to the MTA hasn't really changed since 1990, according to the IBO.
Published Sep 17, 2008
Modified Sep 17, 2008
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