Earlier this month, Governor Cuomo announced a proposal to reduce the cost of crossing the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge for Staten Island residents… significantly. Under the proposal, what’s normally a $15 toll falls to $6.36 for the first two trips in a given month, then sinks to $6 for the third trip and beyond.
Now some Westchester lawmakers and at least one town supervisor are calling for a similar arrangement for Westchester and Rockland residents when the new Tappan Zee Bridge opens in 2016.
Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner wrote to us to express hope that “Governor Andrew Cuomo and the NYS Legislature will do for Westchester/Rockland motorists what they recently did for motorists who reside in Staten Island.”
Assemblyman Thomas Abinanti, D-Mt. Pleasant, who supports discounts for Westchester and Rockland residents, was quoted in the Journal News as saying, “You can’t treat people in one area one way and treat people in another area another way—you have to treat all New Yorkers fairly.”
Greenburgh’s Feiner also thinks the bridge should be paid for by “the entire NYS Thruway system users, not only motorists who use the Tappan Zee Bridge,” implying the toll hikes should be spread out across the state. He continues, “When work is done around the state on other bridges and roads, the entire system pays for the work…the NYS Thruway should treat every part of the sate the same.”
How much the toll is actually going to cost is anyone’s guess—at this point, everyone’s sort of waiting around, bracing for impact, wondering how high the $3.9B price tag will raise rates—but there’s no question they’ll jump significantly. A trek across the bridge costs $5, or $3 with a commuter plan, and New 12 speculates that the toll could spike to $14 or higher.
