Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Revised Toll Plan for East River Bridges Would Screw Manhattan Drivers, Too

Photo by Lingaraj GJ, Flickr
Mayor Bloomberg's failed bridge toll plan (once called "congestion pricing") has come back to life with a "pricing model that might be more palatable to residents outside Manhattan," the NY Times reports.

Under the new scheme, Manhattanites would be asked to contribute more than they had under past proposals. An example lists a $5.33 E-ZPass to go over the Brooklyn Bridge. (It's free now.) The one-way rate to cross the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge would decline to $5.66, from $10.66.

Backers say that imposing tolls on all the East River bridges would make traffic less congested on those previously-free bridges.

We wonder if anyone has taken into account the long lines of slow traffic (and pollution) that would pile up in front of the toll booths?

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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

There would be minimal congestion at the toll booths, which would use high speed EZ Pass.

Anonymous said...

I really don't like the idea of tolls between NYC boroughs. Why can't they just jack up all the tolls coming in from NJ? Let NJ take the brunt of it.

Gary said...

FYI - There would not be any toll booths. This plan would reduce traffic problems, not add to them.

And raise money for both road and transit improvements/maintenance.

It's a winner.

Anonymous said...

It just another regressive tax that the wealthy won't mind paying as they drive their BMWs around the less congested streets Manhattan. The less less affluent of us will be paying a fee every time we use a car, unless we are driving within our neighborhood, in which case we would probably walk.

Unknown said...

There goes my cheapy route to NJ.

Anonymous said...

Regressive tax? The less wealthy are already paying five bucks round-trip ... it's called the subway.