For those of us with memories that go beyond last week, we know that NYC has been trying to put a toll on the Queensboro bridge for quite some time. For example
:
"The East River bridges between Queens and Manhattan have been free since 1911. And business, civic and political leaders stood in the shadow of the Ed Koch-Queensboro Bridge on Sunday demanding that it be kept that way..."
“Tolling the East River bridges would be devastating for Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island residents,” Weprin said in a statement issued by his office. “The people who rely on these bridges are a diverse group of New Yorkers who are trying to make affordable choices in this city and any future transportation plan for New York must take into the account the needs of outer borough residents.”
That's from 2017. Here's 2015 from the AP:
NEW YORK (AP) — Reviving a congestion-pricing idea that has been rejected before, an influential transportation coalition proposed implementing tolls for all cars that cross 60th Street in Manhattan and the free bridges spanning the East River...
The new toll of $5.54 each way with E-ZPass would be charged to drivers crossing 60th Street on every avenue, northbound and southbound, from the West Side Highway to FDR Drive. It would also apply to four major bridges owned by the city: the Queensboro, Williamsburg, Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. That matches the current toll fare on the Queens Midtown and Brooklyn Battery tunnels. Metered taxi cabs would be exempt from all tolls.Each time this came up Queens polls rejected the plan. Now under the congestion pricing, they got their toll. I don't think outerborough citizens realize what is in store for them in about two months. From the Gothamist:
The MTA has sold congestion pricing as a simple tolling scheme: $15 during the day for vehicles that enter Manhattan south of 60th Street. Drivers are exempt from the tolls if they stay on the FDR Drive, West Side Highway and Battery Park Underpass.
But about two months before the MTA hopes to flip the switch and begin tolling, the agency has confirmed it’s not quite that simple.
Ye olde..bait and switch. Let me give you a scenario that was sold to us. Say you live in NJ and you want to go to JFK. The most direct route would take you over the GW Bridge. That's a $17 toll as of this post. Then down the FDR to the triboro bridge. That toll is currently $9.11 for non NY residents.
Each way.
We haven't discussed gasoline.
So in tolls alone your out $36 dollars. Now say you decide to not pay that extra $10 and spend your time going further south to the Queensboro bridge. It's "free" but you lose time and burn more gasoline. Your trip cost drops a whopping 47%. Do that enough times and you're saving quite a bit of money. So of course a lot of people make that decision. On a side note, using the Queensbridge during rush hour is, shall we say, a painful experience. When I did that commute, I found paying the toll on the triboro to be a decision that was better for my mental health.
I am also of the opinion that citizens should be able to cross into and out of any borough of NY without paying a toll. Back when the "outer boroughs" were NOT considered a part of NYC, I could see an argument for a toll. A bad argument to be sure, but I could see it. Once they were brought into the fold, I find such tolling ideas fundamentally contrary to free movement.
Anyway,
Certain exits on both the Queensboro and Brooklyn bridges will be tolled differently. One route on the Queensboro Bridge avoids the toll, while some drivers crossing the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan will face an unexpected charge despite taking an exit for the FDR, which is exempt from the toll.
You can read the entire article but I'll give my explanation here.
The Queens Bridge has NO direct on or offramps that puts you onto a highway like the Verazano or Brooklyn Bridges. The planners KNEW THIS and threw up a plate reader BEFORE any street that gives entrace to the bridge anyway. When I saw it I knew there was going to be a problem. But the city continued to claim that people going to the bridges would be exempted. Therefore I expected to see a reader at the entrance to either the upper or lower levels so that drivers who passed under reader one, would be read again at the bridge entrance and given a credit. However, if you didn't pass under reader two (within a specific timeframe), then you paid the congestion fee (which I disagree with anyway but that's another post). No such reader has been installed on the bridge. Therefore since you MUST pass "into the zone" in order to get onto The Bridge (shout out to MC Shan) outbound, they have effectively tolled that bridge.
When it comes to inbound traffic, there is ONE way to avoid the toll. The upper level off ramp places traffic above the congestion zone. Currently there is only ONE LANE functioning in that direction.
One.
I can imagine everyone trying to avoid the toll by trying to get on the upper level, That will not work out for very long (I say no longer than a week). All other inbound lanes dump the driver in the zone with the closest being exactly 2.25 blocks into the zone. That 1/4 is the portion of block 3 that is within the zone before the gantry. Yes, you will pay anywhere from $3 to $11 to drive 2 blocks to get from the bridge exit closest to the FDR to the FDR.
Yes, the planners in NYC new this and said "Meh. Too bad".
Now they did NOT have to do this at all. Since it is known by all the relevant parties that there is no way to get onto The Bridge, without entering local streets, they could have made a carve out so that the readers would be located on the southern side of the bridge access streets until 2nd avenue and then place them back on streets north of the bridge AFTER the entrance to the bridge from the affected streets.
Similarly they could have made carve outs for the most direct routes from The Bridge to the FDR. For example the lower level exit that dumps at The Tram should allow vehicles to make the "U Turn" onto the same street the "earlier" exit. Of course the reason you cannot do this is because 1st Avenue is one way, in the opposite direction. Drivers so situated must go another block west, make the right turn, go another block, then make another right to go back east.
Again, it's not their fault. That's how the bridge was designed. How about some eminent domain and knock down those towers and build on and off ramps? Oh right. Too....rich?
I kid. Its not practical or necessary. This is a policy problem not a geography problem.
Speaking of, I understand there is a plate reader ON the FDR.
Why?
Well I believe that eventually they will collect on the FDR south of a certain point. Just like how the speed cameras were posted to, you know, save the children and are now 24/7 revenue generators. They will NOT be satisfied with bending drivers over for driving 2 blocks.
Of course NY residents, well some of them, will complain but they won't do anything about it. They voted in the people who made these decisions and they apparently like it.
They get taxed and are good with illegal aliens running up in their city and getting paid to be there. They're good with rising subway crime and having people who defend themselves or others get arrested and prosecuted. They are good with fake trials of ex-presidents whom they don't like.
So they're good with this because I guarantee that not a single representative in Albany will lose their seat in the next election over this.
I see reports of NYC residents complaining about the NJ plates and the lot. These dummies don't realize that the presence of out of state plates (that don't belong to residents) is a sign of money (and therefore tax revenue) INTO the city by people volunteering to come into NY. All that traffic equals money. No traffic means people are not coming into the city and spending money.
Y'all may find out sooner rather than later how that turns out.
