Comments on: East River bridge tolls could fund MTA capital program

By: Benjamin Kabak

Benjamin Kabak — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 20:08:37 +0000

The people who can’t afford to pay don’t own cars. That’s the simple truth about auto ownership in New York City.

By: Daniel Reyes

Daniel Reyes — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 20:04:35 +0000

MAA and Peter. There is no Free alternative route to get into Queens from The Bronx. Truth is, not many people have the funds to continuously pay and cross a bridge. Maybe businesses do, but those businesses usually invest in an EZ-Pass and pay their tolls. Most people taking these bridges cannot afford the daily cost of 5.50 a day. Mid you that once these bridges are decided to be tolled, the price will just increase every single time that the DOT or the MTA need funds for another project. The backlash might be so bad that outer-borough businesses and individuals will lose significant profit. The TLC’s “Yellow Cabs” have a lot of bases in the Queens and The Bronx.

If you are all mad at congestion, you should blame the person who decided to make manhattan the epicenter of New York City. If some of it were spread-out, we wouldnt have this issue.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:47:06 +0000

Has anyone read the following… I think that in this recession the bridges should remain toll-free… Why don’t we crack down with quality of life tickets for littering & urinating in public?:

How East River Bridges Stayed Toll-Free Subtitle
New York Times Blog | November 11, 2008

Author
By Sewell Chan

On numerous occasions, politicians have tried to reinstitute tolls on the four bridges — the Brooklyn (completed in 1883), Williamsburg (completed in 1903) and Manhattan and Queensboro (both completed in 1909). After all, the Brooklyn Bridge charged horse-drawn carriages a toll from the time it opened. But by the Depression, the tolls were a thing of the past.

By: Alon Levy

Alon Levy — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:20:23 +0000

JP: your proposal will substantially increase traffic in East Harlem and Washington Heights. Washington Heights might absorb the increase, but East Harlem has one of the highest asthma incidences in the country, in large part because of all the through traffic.

A better proposal would be to toll all the bridges across East and Harlem Rivers, which would compensate for the added traffic from Triboro Bridge with reduced traffic from the Bronx and Upstate.

By: Cap'n Transit

Cap'n Transit — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 03:37:29 +0000

Marc, please don’t spread disinformation. The East River Bridges were all tolled when they were first constructed. I don’t know where the toll booths were, but they were there. With the small number of cars that existed back then, they didn’t need very many booths.

The idea was to keep the tolls until the bonds were paid off, but Mayor Gaynor removed them in 1911 in the first bridge pandering. Later, Bob Moses had the idea of taking out new bonds before the old ones were paid off, using them to pay for new construction projects and keeping the bridge construction authority in place indefinitely. That’s why the Triboro Bridge and Tunnel Authority is still in existence, as a part of the MTA.

By: JP

JP — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:14:26 +0000

And who holds title to the East River bridges? If the City owns them and gives them to the MTA, could the MTA then add tolls at will?

Doing this requires state approval also, but would make sense. What should be done is a swap. The Queensborough, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Billysburgh to the MTA and the non-CBD crossings to the city. Then make the toll something like $16 on the CBD crossings during peak times. I think this is the fairest system for everyone.

By: Marc Shepherd

Marc Shepherd — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:21:09 +0000

The four city-owned bridges (Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg & Queensboro) have never been tolled. There is nowhere for cars to queue to pay tolls, because the possibility wasn’t anticipated when these bridges were built. I suspect they’d use the same mechanism that would have been used for congestion pricing, based on cameras, computers and EZPass. Building physical toll booths would most likely be a non-starter.

There is no way to get around the requirement for state legislature approval. Robert Moses needed to go through the legislature, too; he was just a lot more adept at it than anyone around today, especially Mayor Bloomberg.

By: JP

JP — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:07:08 +0000

The Battery Tunnel uses the Gowanus Expressway as its queue.

I’m pretty sure about that Gary, and the lawyers are too because if the city tried to do it they’d sue.

By: Gary

Gary — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:49:10 +0000

It runs on batteries? (rimshot)

There is a toll booth that charges both ways, and it’s stationed on the Brooklyn side. I live several blocks from it. The problem is, where would you put them for the bridges?

By: Alon Levy

Alon Levy — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:15:53 +0000

How does the Battery Tunnel work?