The toll plan would boost rates on all PA Hudson and Staten Island bridges and tunnels, but by differing amounts depending on the availability of parallel transit routes. Like the New Jersey Turnpike's new variable toll structure, the plan suggests a significant hike for cash payers, no toll increase for off-peak E-ZPass users, and higher E-ZPass rates during peak periods.

The Port Authority Toll Proposal Auto with E-ZPass Auto Cash Truck Per Axle with E-ZPass Truck Per Axle, Cash  Off-peak Peak 12-6 a.m. Other times Holland, Lincoln Tunnels $4 $6 $7 $4 $5.60 $7 GWB $4 $5.50 $7 $4 $5.60 $7 Staten Is. Bridges $3 $4.50 $7 $4 $5.60 $7

According to the Port Authority, on an average summer 2000 weekday, 50-55% of drivers paid with E-ZPass at the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels and the George Washington Bridge. Before announcement of the new toll structure, E-ZPass payment was expected to grow to roughly 70% at these crossings within a few years, suggesting that most future cash-payers will be out-of-region drivers or occasional motorists. The Tri-State Campaign applauded the Port Authority for adopting smart, congestion-busting toll incentives. The price structure will encourage peak hour commuters to pay electronically and those running errands or making non-obligatory trips to drive off-peak. Simultaneously, the higher axle charge will keep trucks from slowing rush hour traffic. The New York Times, Daily News and Newsday quickly supported the variable toll proposal with positive Friday and Saturday editorials. Star-Ledger editors lamented that the scale of the proposed toll increases for cash-payers obscured the smart incentives built into the plan. While newspapers and televisions featured few New Jersey local officials on the proposal, Staten Island politicians made their displeasure known, even though off-peak E-ZPass drivers on Staten Island bridges receive the only toll reduction. In particular, Borough President Guy Molinari was incredulous that the Port Authority had not given his office some pre-notification of the plan.

(These pages have pointed to strong signals that something along these lines was coming - see edition #'s 237, 242 and 289).

Deputy Mayor Rudy Washington, an MTA board member, told the Daily News that he is pushing the agency to institute similar variable tolls for commercial vehicles at their East River bridges and tunnels. The MTA has been the most resistant toll agency in the region to using toll incentives to manage congestion.

In conjunction with the toll increase, the Port Authority proposed doubling the PATH train fare to $2. Through the purchase of multi-ride cards, riders would receive discounts that could bring single fares down to either $1.30 or $1.50. Regardless, the new base fare would be 50 cents more than the MTA, NJTransit, or LI Bus charges for comparable trips. The Campaign questioned the wisdom of the fare hike, particularly in the context of a toll increase intended in part to promote rush-hour transit use.

A study of Port Authority fares and tolls was a component of the deal struck in late May between Governor Whitman and Pataki that ended an eighteen-month impasse (MTR #272). Both Governors declined comment on the proposal, telling reporters that they had not yet been briefed on its details. Governor Whitman expressed some surprise at the plan and called both the toll and PATH fare increases "enormous." Governor Pataki told NBC he was pleased that PATH fares would be raised to MTA levels, raising suspicion among transit advocates that a NYC Transit fare increase is in the works, although Governor Pataki denied this.