New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority is expected to raise tolls at bridges and tunnels by 7.1% in April as it struggles to fund subway, bus and rail services amid multibillion-dollar losses caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The toll proposal, which will be considered by authority board members when they meet next Thursday, is likely to be approved, MTA officials say.
The increase would raise the one-way toll for New York E-ZPass users at major MTA crossings, such as the Queens-Midtown Tunnel or the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, to $6.55 from $6.12. Motorists who don’t have a New York E-ZPass would pay $10.17, up from $9.50.
MTA officials say the increases would generate about $62 million in additional revenues this year and $116 million in their first full year in 2022. Profits from the bridges and tunnels are used to subsidize mass transit.
The MTA has raised fares and tolls every two years for the past decade. It broke with that pattern last month when authority board members deferred a proposed fare increase for trains, buses and subways that was supposed to take effect in March. The vote was shelved for several months at least.
Source: WSJ – US News
