A Sunday (7/13) Newsday retrospective on E-ZPass’ first 10 years in the metropolitan region noted that while agencies from the NJ Turnpike, the NY State Thruway and Port Authority had embraced some form for congestion pricing and are developing a variety of high-speed E-ZPass applications to increase traffic through-put at toll plazas, the MTA has decided against making progress in either area.

A week earlier, an MTA spokesperson cited by a Newsday reporter seemed unaware that the Port Authority had implemented an aggressive congestion pricing system at its Hudson River crossings, and claimed the MTA was "studying" variable pricing options (see MTR #424).

In the broader E-ZPass piece, the reporter accurately noted that the MTA had no plans to implement any form of congestion pricing. A Tri-State Transportation Campaign spokesperson anticipated some of the agency’s usual objections to higher-speed or open road tolling, stating that the MTA will complain that its crossings connect to highly congested city street systems, so that there is little purpose in speeding drivers through toll plazas.

True to form, an MTA Bridges and Tunnels spokesperson called the Outerbridge Crossing — where the Port Authority is establishing open road tolling — "peripheral," but did not consider whether the same label might apply to MTA bridges like the Throgs Neck. Many of the MTA’s crossings, including the Whitestone, TriBorough and Verrazano are primarily links in the region’s highway network, rather than portals to local streets. The Port Authority will also set up open road tolling at the George Washington Bridge, which probably cannot be labeled "peripheral."

The MTA did not charge that agencies that are developing high-speed toll collection systems and have abolished toll booth gates are losing money, though we doubt the agency has abandoned that position. Toll authorities like those in NJ say their enforcement systems will prevent any revenue loss due to toll beaters slipping into high speed lanes.

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