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Tuesday, December 16, 2008 11 Comments

Channel 13 Poll: Tolls on the East River Bridges?

by Aaron Naparstek on December 16, 2008

Channel 13 is promoting tonight's episode of "New York Voices" with an online poll asking, "Should there be tolls on the East River Bridges?" I don't know. Should motorists get a free ride into Manhattan while subway riders face massive fare increases? What do you think?

The show airs at 8pm:

Tuesday night’s New York Voices will look at some recommendations put forward by a special commission to help the MTA confront its financial crisis. One of those proposals is to create tolls on the East and Harlem River bridges. These tolls could help the MTA avoid major service cuts and fare increases, and would help pay for a new regional bus service. Are they a good idea? Tell us what you think.

11 Comments

Last comment by Doc Barnett Leave a comment »

robin

we also have two interviews up with MTA engineers:
http://www.thirteen.org/local/web-exclusive-videos-see-the-lirr-extension-tunneland-learn-about-the-2nd-ave-subway-project

December 16, 2008 at 1:49 pm Link # 1
JDogg

The tolling is a great idea, the question is begged how to collect it?

Using cameras to capture images of plates is fine, but to charge what account? Scofflaws? Obscured plates? EZPass?

Implementation at what cost?

December 16, 2008 at 2:25 pm Link # 2
J. Mork

E-ZPass with camera enforcement.

http://www.streetsblog.org/2008/12/04/more-on-the-ravitch-commissions-mta-fix/

December 16, 2008 at 2:36 pm Link # 3
oscar

i think there would be more support for tolls and even congestion pricing if the MTA didnt have such a bad track record with money management.

December 16, 2008 at 3:51 pm Link # 4
Mark

To sell tolling politically, the public must be made to understand that drivers benefit from the transit system as much as transit riders do, and because the system is in trouble, all New Yorkers need to help pitch in to save a system we all depend on.

Motorists benefit from the system for 2 reasons:

1. New York City cannot compete economically without a good transit system

2. The transit system takes the majority of commuters, puts them underground and out of the way so that a few have space on the surface to drive. If the transit system were to shut down, it would be spatially impossible to move everyone into Manhattan in motor vehicles. A single subway train at rush hour holds 1,500 people. Now imagine putting those 1,500 people into motor vehicles and onto the already congested streets of Manhattan. It just doesn’t work.

I wish the advocates would organize some kind of imaginative protest to illustrate the point. Maybe we could all walk into Manhattan spaced out every 15 feet as if we were cars. Maybe we should organize a fare boycott—Boston Tea Party style.

December 16, 2008 at 4:01 pm Link # 5
Streetsman

Also lost in the argument is that tolling benefits drivers. It will create a financial disincentive to driving, so many people that have other options such as mass transit, carpooling, biking or walking will not drive. There will be fewer cars on the road, particularly at the crossings, which are the choke points for the road network. Day one of bridge tolling could be the smoothest, fastest commute drivers have had in decades.

December 16, 2008 at 4:55 pm Link # 6
Niccolo Machiavelli

Could you be a little more specific Oscar? And if the "track record" is so unredeemable why ever fund it? Oh yeah, the little thing of the transit system they run. The Ravitch commission studied how to fund the MTA. To say the MTA has a bad record (arguable) in handling money doesn't really answer how to fund it. I guess you prefer to bankrupt it, put you in the Littlefield crew I guess.

December 16, 2008 at 6:46 pm Link # 7
Jeff Prant

A better question: Why were the bridges (or on-street car parking) made free in the first place?

December 16, 2008 at 9:48 pm Link # 8
Angus Grieve-Smith

Hi Jeff! It's not clear from your question whether you already know the answer or not.

December 16, 2008 at 11:55 pm Link # 9
oscar

niccolo, relax...i support east river tolls & congestion pricing

all i'm saying is that the MTA has a bad reputation when it comes to maney management, and so things like this are a hard sell to the public at large...seems whenever i see polls like this, talk to people, read comments, the idea of giving money to the MTA angers them more than the idea of tolling bridges itself..and to some extent they have a point...

December 17, 2008 at 11:34 am Link # 10
Doc Barnett

"and to some extent they have a point"

They don't have a point, they have a recalcitrant attitude owing to exaggerated grievances. If the MTA shuts down for any length of time they will understand that being angry about old, half-understood financial scandals does not get New York to work in the morning.

December 17, 2008 at 1:10 pm Link # 11