Queensboro Bridge (Photo: nyc.gov)
April 30, 2015 By Michael Florio
Several Queens law makers are opposed to a proposal that calls for charging commuters a toll for crossing the Queensboro Bridge—calling it “fundamentally unfair.”
The proposal, put forward by the lobby group Move NY in February, calls for motorists who use the free bridge to pay $5.54 each way (E-ZPass)–or $8.
Move NY, a group comprised of planners and traffic experts, claims that the toll would reduce traffic congestion in the Queens Plaza area as fewer drivers would use the bridge.
Furthermore, Move NY argues that the tolls generated at the Queensboro Bridge—and three other free bridges in the city (the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges) would lead to a $2.50 each-way reduction of tolls elsewhere—such as at the Triborough-RFK Bridge. They also argue it would raise about $1.5 billion each year for the MTA.
However, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz and other Queens officials issued a joint statement earlier this week denouncing the plan.
“It is fundamentally unfair to charge residents a fee to travel within one city,” according to the statement. Furthermore, “the proposal tolls all routes from Queens to Manhattan.”
Move NY, however, claims the proposal would make the system fairer since it would lower the tolls on five of the six bridges in Queens—including the Triborough Bridge.
“Katz wants to preserve a system where some Queens drivers pay through the nose to cross the bridges they use while others pay nothing,” according to a Move NY statement.
Katz and other Queens lawmakers also reject Move NY’s claim that the proposed plan would generate $1.5 billion in revenue each year that would go toward maintaining, expanding and modernizing the MTA system.
“Without any direct connection between the revenues generated from the proposed tolls to those very improvements, there is simply no guarantee that this proposal will actually yield anything.”
However, Move NY argues that “the Katz solution is to starve the transit system of funding so under-served neighborhoods won’t get new service.”
Along with Katz, the joint statement was issued by State Senators Joseph Addabbo, Tony Avella, Leroy Comrie, Toby Stavisky; Assembly members Jeffrion Aubry, Barbara Clark, Vivian Cook, Phillip Goldfeder, Ronald Kim, Michael Miller, Michael Simanowitz, Michele Titus, David Weprin; Councilmembers Karen Koslowitz, Rory Lancman, I. Daneek Miller, Paul Vallone and Ruben Wills.
For the plan to go into effect, state legislators would have to pass the proposal.
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21 Comments
like everything eles on the planet, you use it you pay.
no more free rides, why do i have to pay 2.75 for the Q32 to cross the bridge while some doochebag in a bmw gets to go free in the next lane
you know im right.
end this nonsense now, make the bastardz pay up
No, you are not right! People who own cars have enormous expenses the city and state foist on them, mostly in the form of parking, taxes and tickets. I have to keep a car for many things, and if you think no one should get a free ride, then people who walk on the streets and sidewalks need to pay a usage fee, too. You use it, you pay for it!
@Dotty if you’re getting tickets itmore than likely means you’re doing something terribly wrong. As for taxes. Taxes are one of the ways we pay for roads to drive on, street lights, signs and road repairs, just to name a things. The other way to pay for these things are tolls. Pick your poison.
“people who walk on the streets and the sidewalks” do pay a usage fee for their upkeep, it’s called NYC taxes which are levied on top of federal and state taxes. but bridges and tunnels are far, far more difficult and costly to maintain, which is why tolls exist.
Well perhaps they should pave over the East River and build housing on top of that. Then they wouldn’t need the QB bridge, it would all be a bridge and you could pay tolls for it too.
If you think the toll money collected on MTA bridges is all used to operate and maintain bridges and tunnels then I will be happy to sell you any one of these bridges.
what about a buck fifty for the go gro hatted old men in skin tight spandex riding bikes over? make em all pay!
I have no doubt they will put tolls on the Queensborough Bridge and others but if you think the Triborough Bridge is going to reduce its toll prices, you should seek professional psychiatric help immediately.
As you all know, I’m just looking to get into the boy’s soul.
HOW are the people who cannot afford the tolls going to fit on tyhe already overcrowded trains?
WHY are you going to create a new revenue stream for the bloated bureaucracy which has PROVED to be wasteful and ineffective in managing the MTA?
WHEN will the MTA abort its botched attempt at making “kickbacks” and “favors” disguised as being a player in the real estate business?
WHEN will there be TRUE TRANSPARENCY about MTA finances?
Answer these BEFORE you dare toll the free bridges.
No NOT succumb to the “rabid-mad-dog-anti-car” rantings of Charlie Komanoff and his fascist organization Transportation Alternatives. All they want to is BAN CARS. They offer no real “alternatives” other than shoe leather and bicycles.
Maybe if we had more money there would be a better less crowded public transit system. Other cities have these tolls and there isn’t this bickering except from regressive New York.
Insulting people rarely convinces them of your argument.
So what’s your suggestion?
“It is fundamentally unfair to charge residents a fee to travel within one city,”
I look forward to Melinda Katz’ proposal for free MTA service.
“NY’s claim…the proposed plan would generate $1.5 billion in revenue each year that would go toward maintaining, expanding and modernizing the MTA system.”
Do they think people are stupid? Just like its been doing; the money will go to a handful of people and stay there! This is a scam and the People of Queens and Manhattan should fight this!
Traveling would be free if it wasnt for a gov’t runned service like the MTA. First of all its an AUTHORITY, not a optional service.
Just like the traffic of the internet, Ad’s pay for everthing. The MTA is double-dipping because they’re so corrupt. Also its runned by the State not even the City.
@craic dealer There would be no internet if it wasn’t for a Gov’t “runned service” like The Department of Defense.
are you being serious? do you honestly believe that the MTA could ever be free? no major city in the world has free transportation, no matter how their transit authorities are funded. in fact an MTA trip is a bargain compared to many other cities in the world.
According to a U.S. News Feb 20110 analysis, the 10 U.S. cities with the best combination of public transportation investment, ridership, and safety are:
1. Denver-Aurora, Colo.
2. New York-Newark, N.Y.-N.J.-Conn.
3. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif.
4. Boston, Mass.-N.H.-R.I.
5. Portland, Ore.
6. (tie) San Jose, Calif.
6. (tie) Salt Lake City, Utah
8. San Diego, Calif.
9. Seattle, Wash.
10. Honolulu, Hawaii
Other major cities that came close to making the cut were the Washington, D.C., metro area, at No. 11; San Francisco, Calif., at No. 13; and Chicago, Illinois, at No. 14. Though all three of these systems had relatively high ridership and public investment, they all also experienced far more safety incidents–such as collisions, derailments, and fires–per million trips than the cities in the top 10.
24 Cheapest overwater bungalow resorts in the world in 201524 Cheapest overwater bungalow resorts in the world in 2015 56 European cities by price: Europe Backpacker Index for 201556 European cities by price: Europe Backpacker Index for 2015 Cheapest Caribbean Islands: 32 destinations by price in 2015Cheapest Caribbean Islands: 32 destinations by price in 2015 31 Asian cities by price: Backpacker Index for 201531 Asian cities by price: Backpacker Index for 2015
Public transportation prices in 80 worldwide cities
By admin16 Nov, 2010CommentsComments (22)Add commentAdd a comment
Any good budget traveler can tell you that one of the best and easiest ways to save money in almost any city is to use the public transportation system, especially on longer journeys. As we recently displayed in our world taxi prices comparison, even a short trip can be incredibly expensive in some cities.
So below we’ve compiled public transportation prices in 80 of the most popular tourist cities all over the world. Since nearly every one of these systems is subsidized by the city, some of the prices are shockingly low, even on quite a few new-and-clean metro systems.
With the exception of the single most expensive one (which is really more of a novelty), the pricier part of the list more or less lines up with what you’d expect and what the locals can afford. Often in those cases the city also encourages use by severely punishing self-drivers with high road and/or parking fees. It’s also worth mentioning that most cities offer weekly or monthly transit cards that often bring the per-ride cost way down for locals.
Single-ride public transportation prices in 80 tourist cities
*all prices converted into US dollars in mid-November, 2010
Price ranges reflect shortest to longest rides in most cities. Tourists are most likely to pay the lowest price.
Caracas, Venezuela (metro, bus) $0.12 – $0.28
Cairo, Egypt (metro) $0.17
Delhi, India (metro) $0.18 – $0.66
La Paz, Bolivia (bus) $0.19 – $0.50
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (light rail, bus) $0.22 – $0.76
Marrakech, Morocco (bus) $0.24 – $0.61
Mexico City, Mexico (metro) $0.24
Panama City, Panama (bus) $0.25
Quito, Ecuador (bus) $0.25 – $0.35
Hong Kong, China (tram, ferry) $0.26 – $0.39
Buenos Aires, Argentina (bus, subway) $0.28 – $0.32
Beijing, China (subway) $0.30
Dakar, Senegal (bus) $0.31
Lima, Peru (bus) $0.36 – $0.64
Auckland, New Zealand (bus, train) $0.38 – $1.38
Macau, China (bus) $0.41 – $0.83
Shanghai, China (metro) $0.45 – $1.35
Cancun, Mexico (bus) $0.49
Taipei, Taiwan (metro, bus) $0.49 – $2.14
Bangkok, Thailand (skytrain, subway) $0.50 – $1.34
Singapore, Singapore (subway, light rail) $0.61 – $1.53
St. Petersburg, Russia (tram, bus, metro) $0.61 – $0.71
Cartagena, Colombia (bus) $0.64 – $0.80
Dubai, UAE (metro) $0.68 – $2.18
Montevideo, Uruguay (bus) $0.76
Sofia, Bulgaria (tram, bus, metro) $0.80
Phuket, Thailand (bus) $0.83, $1.17
Moscow, Russia (metro) $0.84
Krakow, Poland (bus, tram) $0.86
Seoul, South Korea (subway, bus) $0.89 – $1.77
Prague, Czech Republic (tram, bus, metro) $1.00 – $1.44
Santiago, Chile (metro, bus) $1.00 – $1.20
Istanbul, Turkey (tram, bus, metro, ferry) $1.03
Cape Town, South Africa (bus) $1.14
Lisbon, Portugal (tram, bus, metro) $1.16 – $3.97
New Orleans, USA (tram, bus) $1.25 – $1.50
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (metro, bus) $1.28 – $1.74
Budapest, Hungary (tram, bus, metro) $1.28 – $2.32
Athens, Greece (tram, bus, metro) $1.37
Madrid, Spain (metro, bus) $1.37
Monaco, Monaco (bus) $1.37
Rome, Italy (tram, bus, metro) $1.37
Tallinn, Estonia (bus, tram, trolley) $1.39 – $1.74
Dubrovnik, Croatia (bus) $1.48 – $1.85
Los Angeles, USA (bus, metro) $1.50
Chicago, USA (metro, bus) $1.54 – $1.73
Dublin, Ireland (tram, bus) $1.58 – $2.47
Nice, France (bus) $1.58
Tel Aviv, Israel (bus) $1.58
Washington DC, USA (metro) $1.60 – $5.00
Bruges, Belgium (bus) $1.64 – $2.74
Florence, Italy (bus) $1.64
Berlin, Germany (tram, bus, metro) $1.78 – $2.88
Zagreb, Croatia (bus, tram, train) $1.85
Barcelona, Spain (tram, bus, metro) $1.92
Tokyo, Japan (metro) $1.93 – $2.29
Edinburgh, Scotland (bus) $1.94
Sydney, Australia (metro, bus) $1.96 – $3.24
San Francisco, USA (tram, bus, metro) $2.00
Miami, USA (bus) $2.00
Honolulu, USA (bus) $2.25
New York City, USA (subway, bus) $2.25
Brussels, Belgium (metro, bus) $2.33 – $2.74
Paris, France (metro) $2.33
Galway, Ireland (bus) $2.47
Helsinki, Finland (tram, bus, metro) $2.47 – $3.42
Vancouver, Canada (skytrain, bus) $2.48
Reykjavik, Iceland (bus) $2.50
Stockholm, Sweden (tram, bus, metro) $2.61 – $8.70
Montreal, Canada (metro, bus) $2.72
London, England (tube, bus, tram: using Oystercard) $2.90 – $9.68
Toronto, Canada (subway, streetcar, bus) $2.97
Vienna, Austria (subway, tram, bus) $3.01
Munich, Germany (tram, bus, metro, subway) $3.29 – $6.58
Amsterdam, Netherlands (tram, bus, metro) $3.56
Melbourne, Australia (tram, bus) $3.63
Zurich, Switzerland (bus, tram, train) $4.08
Copenhagen, Denmark (metro, bus) $4.20
Oslo, Norway (tram, bus, metro, ferry) $4.34 – $6.68
Venice, Italy (water bus) $8.90
@OldenDays: It will happen.