This would deal with the traffic issue AND the issue of not wanting to further isolate the South Bronx, financially or perceptively…

I am really uncomfortable with any further “borough/Manhattan isolation”…

thoughts?

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While I use the MTA to get to work, because of fatigue and safety concerns, I use taxis 4 nights a week to take me home (around 1 AM), after my 12 hour shifts at work (don’t ask)

anyway, this would add about a minimum of $32 to my monthly commute.

This is real, and this is about my neighborhood access. It’s hard enough dealing with all the stigma of living here (their issues), as well as the other inconveniences. Now this! All while we are all desperately trying to “Raise the BX”… Can someone show me why I should support the tolls? Or better yet, can someone propose a way that the locals will not have a new penalty added to their budget, which more often then not in the BX, is already strained?

(oh, and btw, concerning traffic woes, I for one, not being a driver, appreciate the cars going thorough what some of you call “my dismall neighborhood”. It makes me feel safer having traffic in what otherwise might be empty streets)

thank you
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2. They should put one-way tolls back on the Verrazano at least for trucks. They are ones who abuse the one-way toll by using it more inbound than outbound and result in lost revenue and added traffic for Brooklyn.

> So why are you doing it? Obviously there are other factors that make it
> worthwhile. Maybe the free time you gain by not having to drive? The
> reduction of stress? There are lots of costs of driving that don’t commonly
> get factored into the total cost.

Rhywun, in this case, I’m doing it because I won’t have access to my car this holiday season. Otherwise, I’d drive it in a heartbeat.

I can see the Willis ave bridge from my desk and I’m on Bruckner Blvd when I go outside. The Willis ave bridge has bumper-to-bumper traffic on it every day from about 2pm to 7pm. Bruckner blvd approach to the 3rd ave bridge frequently has bumper-to-bumper traffic all day.

I think implicit in all this tolling is that it will reduce the amount of traffic. One can take this to mean that it will reduce the traffic over this trio of Bronx/Manhattan bridges. If the price for all were the same, more people would congregate around the fastest of three, which is the RFK. It’s the fastest because you don’t have to use neighborhood streets.

Considering that they and their donors who pull the strings probably haven’t ridden a subway since their pre-law days, it’s not surprising how out-of-touch they are.

So why are you doing it? Obviously there are other factors that make it worthwhile. Maybe the free time you gain by not having to drive? The reduction of stress? There are lots of costs of driving that don’t commonly get factored into the total cost.

I suppose they’re opposed to both, and are expecting the transit money to come from the Feds or a payroll tax or some pot o’ gold at the end of a rainbow.

and, thank you, urbanis for telling espaillat like it should be. i would add that more mta funding could also provide better bus service across those very same bridges – highly unlikely considering the prospect of barely being able to hold up the system as it is.

I also am so upset that they wasted money on renaming the bridge that I won’t take the Triboro anymore. I’m not going to fund such jingoism, especially when the bridge is filled with potholes and temporary signage.

Perhaps if the corrupt retards in Albany had funneled the millions of dollars they’re using to rename the bridge (after someone who had NOTHING to do with the bridge’s construction) to repair it , it would be a more efficient way to get around.

I am not sure if the neighborhoods near these bridges would really see much improvement in air quality with tolling. There are highways all over the place running in parallel to all the bridge approaches. This is all about revenue, which is fine, it’s a legitimate source of revenue.

If they’re going to toll all the bridges they should make them variable tolls to optimize traffic flow, and not have non-EZ-pass lanes, that would only create more traffic.

Furthermore, why is the MTA the one agency that keeps orange car-stoppers at the tolls? They really do slow it down as everyone needs to come to a full stop. EZ pass tolls should all be 15 miles/hour.

That’s more or less the idea. The Verrazano used to be a two-way toll like the other MTA bridges, but in order to ease congestion out of Staten Island in the years before EZ-pass the toll was doubled and made only one way, theoretically earning the same revenue while speeding up traffic. A round trip commuter from Staten Island who pays $10 in one direction is the same as a round-trip commuter over the Tri-boro who pays $5 each way.

Now the truth is when I lived in PA and had a car if I was going to Brooklyn I would always go through Staten Island on the way in and Manhattan on the way out to avoid the toll. And I also have never taken the Tri-boro even when it made geographic sense.

If I had to pay $5 no matter what bridge I crossed in whatever direction I would just suck it up and take the most efficient route.

I would like to see Port Authority tolls off setting MTA tolls and vice versa. I think it discourages regional access to have someone coming from Long Island to pay twice to get to New Jersey. Maybe have $10 be the maximum bridge & tunnel toll that someone would pay in one day?