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Campaign For $5 East River Tolls Kicks Off Today
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Mar 21, 2014
Modified Mar 21, 2014
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By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Mar 21, 2014
Modified Mar 21, 2014
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Congestion pricing and its progeny will never die, no matter how aggressively you lean on your horn while driving down a residential street. Transportation advocates are continuing to push tolls on East River bridges in an attempt to bring down some of the car traffic clogging our streets, and they say these tolls could bring in $1.5 billion per year for road and transit upgrades. They will be unveiling a reworked version of the plan at a Baruch College forum today.
The "fair tolling and transportation reinvestment" plan—proposed last year by former traffic commissioner Sam Schwartz and backed by transportation advocacy group Move NY—suggests a $5.33 toll (with E-Z Pass; $7.50 with cash) on East River bridges and tunnels like the Queensboro Bridge, the Williamsburg Bridge and the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. Tolls would be reduced for bridges with fewer transit links, like the Throgs Neck bridge in the Bronx. "New York’s current tolling system is unfair to drivers traveling between less affluent parts of the city," Move NY declares on its website. "It also leaves the transportation network—both our public transit system and roads and bridges—starved for funds."
The proposal has been knocking around for some time, but the group says today marks the start of a public campaign to win the approval of congestion-pricing naysayers. They are not yet seeking approval from Albany legislators, who have traditionally proven difficult to persuade on this issue.
"One of the things we really try to emphasize over and over is this is about fairness," MoveNY-head Alex Matthiessen told The Atlantic. "This isn't about sticking people with new tolls. Everybody's paying their fair share, and everybody's getting something in return."
MoveNY has not responded to requests for comment. Note that a $5 toll will make it harder to get a cab to take you to Brooklyn.
Tagged
bill de blasio
congestion
new beginnings
pricing
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traffic congestion
Year Zero
Rebecca Fishbein
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