NEW YORK - Commuters in the New York area are paying more at every direction they turn these days.
Come March, driving from New Jersey to New York City will cost $8, $2 more than before. Drive north, and the Henry Hudson Bridge toll will cost 50 cents more. Hop on the New York Thruway, and tolls are now 10 percent higher than last month.
Take the subway instead? Monthly MetroCards will cost $5 more by March. NJ Transit train fares went up 10 percent last spring. It also costs more to ride the ferry across the Hudson. And then there are gas prices that routinely exceed $3 per gallon.
While three government agencies move separately to charge motorists and rail riders more to move around on roads, bridges and trains, transit advocates wonder why commuters couldn't just pay one toll, or at least not pay in several different places at the same time.
“It's a triple whammy,” said Robert Sinclair Jr., spokesman for the AAA New York, based in Garden City. “Three different agencies at the same time decided to raise their tolls.”
Agencies raising subway fares and bridge, tunnel and highway tolls say they have no plans to share their new revenue with each other, or charge commuters less who are hit all at once.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey - run by the governors of both states - passed toll increases Friday on six bridges and tunnels going into the city. It also hiked fares for a commuter rail line. The money will pay for post-Sept. 11 security, rebuilding the World Trade Center site and construction of a new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said its recent hikes for subways, buses, two regional rail lines and city bridges were needed to close budget gaps. The Thruway Authority is considering more toll hikes in 2009 and 2010 because not enough drivers are using the road to help pay for a multibillion-dollar highway and bridge repair plan.
On Tuesday, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine is unveiling plans to raise tolls on the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway to help solve the state's financial problems.
Commuters, especially those from outside the region, could pay several bridge and highway tolls over a stretch of a few miles and not even know they were being run by multiple different agencies. Transit advocates say the confusion on the roads goes beyond that.
“Some collect tolls in one direction. Some collect tolls in the other direction,” said Jeff Zupan, senior transportation fellow for the Regional Plan Association in New York City. “Some have preferential treatment for buses. Some have preferential treatment for buses and cars. Some have no preferential treatment. It's a mess.”
The toll roads and bridges, no matter who runs them, do have one thing in common: E-ZPass, the electronic tolling system that allows drivers to move more quickly through toll plazas, often for a discount. Riders on the Port Authority's PATH trains can also pay for their fares using the MTA's single-ride MetroCards - although they would wind up paying more, since city subway fares are higher than PATH fares.
Transit advocates hope that concept can be broadened to help more commuters.
“One thing that would make a lot of sense is getting one transit card that works everywhere,” said Kate Slevin, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign.
Zupan suggested allowing PATH riders who take the train from New Jersey, then board city subways, to just get charged once, in the same way the MTA allows riders to transfer from city subways to buses on the same fare.
It would only serve a fraction of the MTA's millions of riders a day, he said, but would send a symbolic message “that the region's system is being thought of more like a system, rather than having all these agencies with different policies.”
The Port Authority's toll hike may be the one of the first to connect to another pricing plan - congestion pricing, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposal to charge drivers to enter the most-trafficked parts of Manhattan. Rush-hour drivers on the Port Authority's crossings - even the E-ZPass drivers who normally get discounts at all hours - will now pay the highest $8 toll.
Take the subway instead? Monthly MetroCards will cost $5 more by March. NJ Transit train fares went up 10 percent last spring. It also costs more to ride the ferry across the Hudson. And then there are gas prices that routinely exceed $3 per gallon.
While three government agencies move separately to charge motorists and rail riders more to move around on roads, bridges and trains, transit advocates wonder why commuters couldn't just pay one toll, or at least not pay in several different places at the same time.
“It's a triple whammy,” said Robert Sinclair Jr., spokesman for the AAA New York, based in Garden City. “Three different agencies at the same time decided to raise their tolls.”
Agencies raising subway fares and bridge, tunnel and highway tolls say they have no plans to share their new revenue with each other, or charge commuters less who are hit all at once.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey - run by the governors of both states - passed toll increases Friday on six bridges and tunnels going into the city. It also hiked fares for a commuter rail line. The money will pay for post-Sept. 11 security, rebuilding the World Trade Center site and construction of a new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said its recent hikes for subways, buses, two regional rail lines and city bridges were needed to close budget gaps. The Thruway Authority is considering more toll hikes in 2009 and 2010 because not enough drivers are using the road to help pay for a multibillion-dollar highway and bridge repair plan.
On Tuesday, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine is unveiling plans to raise tolls on the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway to help solve the state's financial problems.
Commuters, especially those from outside the region, could pay several bridge and highway tolls over a stretch of a few miles and not even know they were being run by multiple different agencies. Transit advocates say the confusion on the roads goes beyond that.
“Some collect tolls in one direction. Some collect tolls in the other direction,” said Jeff Zupan, senior transportation fellow for the Regional Plan Association in New York City. “Some have preferential treatment for buses. Some have preferential treatment for buses and cars. Some have no preferential treatment. It's a mess.”
The toll roads and bridges, no matter who runs them, do have one thing in common: E-ZPass, the electronic tolling system that allows drivers to move more quickly through toll plazas, often for a discount. Riders on the Port Authority's PATH trains can also pay for their fares using the MTA's single-ride MetroCards - although they would wind up paying more, since city subway fares are higher than PATH fares.
Transit advocates hope that concept can be broadened to help more commuters.
“One thing that would make a lot of sense is getting one transit card that works everywhere,” said Kate Slevin, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign.
Zupan suggested allowing PATH riders who take the train from New Jersey, then board city subways, to just get charged once, in the same way the MTA allows riders to transfer from city subways to buses on the same fare.
It would only serve a fraction of the MTA's millions of riders a day, he said, but would send a symbolic message “that the region's system is being thought of more like a system, rather than having all these agencies with different policies.”
The Port Authority's toll hike may be the one of the first to connect to another pricing plan - congestion pricing, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposal to charge drivers to enter the most-trafficked parts of Manhattan. Rush-hour drivers on the Port Authority's crossings - even the E-ZPass drivers who normally get discounts at all hours - will now pay the highest $8 toll.
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