MTA Plans Toll Hike for Cross Bay Bridge!

In late July I posted an article about the MTA's Proposed Budget and Financial Plan for next year and I wrote....

For those of you out there who still hope against hope that the MTA will reverse it's newly modified Cross Bay Bridge Resident Rebate Program you should know that the agency's budget contains a "Bridge and Tunnel Holdback" initiative wherein the Financial Plan proposes that "a portion of the 7.5% toll increases for 2011 and 2013 (equivalent to 2.5% in each year) will be used to fund new B&T capital projects through pay-as-you-go funding and additional debt." What this means is that the MTA has already targeted and spent the additional revenue from the revenue now being generated by Broad Channel and Rockaway residents who are now paying the toll to cross the bridge!

As it turned out, less than two weeks after the MTA modified the long time Broad Channel/Rockaway resident toll rebate on July 23rd, the agency announced that it intends to raise the tolls on the Cross Bay Bridge next year.

The "cash" toll will raise 25 cents from $2.27 to $3.00.

The E-Z Pass Toll will rise from $1.71 to $1.88.

Tokens will rise from $1.83 to $2.00

and,

more importantly,

the Broad Channel/Rockaway Resident E-Z Pass will rise from $1.13 to $1.24

Of course there will be the perfuntory "public hearings" where we, and our elected officials, will complain about the never ending fare and toll hikes rolled out by the MTA on an annual basis and the MTA Board will politely listen, nodding their heads in understanding and afterwards they will meet this December and vote the increases in despite our objections.