AAA Hints at Incentive Toll Fight
September's Car & Traveler magazine exhibits the AAA's anxiety about studies and real-world tests of roadway pricing, and may presage a campaign to ensure that incentive tolls are unable to gain a foothold in the Tri-State area. In response to the NY Thruway Authority's decision to pursue a stated preference survey of pricing options for the Tappan Zee Bridge, NY AAA staffer Mark Kulewicz warns "If congestion pricing is established on the Tappan Zee, efforts to bring it to other bridges, tunnels and highways will soon follow." The article says "The reaction of Tappan Zee commuters [to the Thruway's study] will be taken as a sign for advocates and foes of congestion pricing elsewhere."Kulewicz also says that, because the Tri-State Transportation Campaign pushed for the study, it is doubtful that the Thruway Authority can develop a fair questionnaire for motorists. The AAA worries that the pricing study will further delay the hotly contested widening of I-287 in Westchester and Rockland Counties.
