(Photo credit: wallyg via Flickr. Creative Commons license.)
Today, the MTA board will offically vote on the post-Doomsday fares and tolls. While the $2.25 single-ride fare and $89 monthly MetroCard have been widely publicized, the tolls for the bridges and tunnels have pretty much flown under the radar. Last week, the Staten Island Advance reported that the Verrazano toll will jump from $10 to $11 (instead of $13 under the Doomsday scenario).
The Staten Islanders of the NYS Assembly are not happy with any increase at all. I’m not certain what put it in the S’islanders heads that they should be treated more special than everyone else, but in this instance, I happen to agree with them:
- The Verrazano toll is roughly the same amount as the central London congestion charge (about $12 after the currency conversion), but it is 10 miles away from downtown Manhattan (and is actually charged on your way to Staten Island, traveling away from Manhattan)
- Even though the toll is meant to subsidize mass transit, the MTA’s Brooklyn-to-Staten Island service is limited to the S53/93 and S79 buses, neither of which go any further into Brooklyn than Bay Ridge.
- Staten Island residents traveling to Brooklyn are eligible for a 50% discount, while Brooklyn residents traveling to Staten Island must pay the full toll.
Un-disclaimer: I don’t own a car, so the Verrazano toll doesn’t directly affect me. In fact, as a rare breed of transit customer known as an M-train rider, I should be the last person in the world taking the side of car commuters over transit riders.
On the other hand, I have to go to St. George every Sunday – a one-and-a-half hour trip by subway and ferry (my three-bus option over the Verrazano doesn’t get me there any faster). I sure would love to hop into a ZipCar and cut that that hour-n-change down to twenty minutes. But $50 a month in tolls for less than an hour of drive time each week? Uhhh, I’m not so sure about that.
My solution: extend the 50% discount to Brooklyn residents as well. Either that, or get some more limited-stop bus routes between the transit hubs in Brooklyn (like Stillwell Avenue or Atlantic Avenue) and the transit hubs in Staten Island.
Related: This Daily News opinion is spot on. Former MTA Boss Lee Sander got scapegoated.
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