Community Consulting Services this week called for elimination of the 50-cent discount for E-ZPass users at the MTA’s bridges and tunnels, arguing that the change would raise far more revenue for the agency than the $1 monthly E-ZPass user fee proposed in the 2005 MTA budget. The organization said eliminating the discount would raise $105 million annually versus $7 million from the new fee, and that the discount is an unneeded remnant of E-ZPass’ introduction some ten years ago.

Currently, MTA tolls are $3.50 for drivers with E-ZPass, $4 without. The agency has proposed raising tolls 50 cents, implementing the $1 monthly fee, cutting transit service and increasing subway, bus, and commuter rail fares in order to pay for a $436 million 2005 budget gap.

Before the fare and toll increases in 2003, Komanoff Energy Associates and the Tri-State Campaign released a report showing the MTA could offer drivers congestion-busting off-peak toll discounts without sacrificing revenue from the toll increase. The MTA ignored the report, implementing the usual flat increase that gave drivers nothing but higher prices.

The Komanoff report looked closely at hiking rush-hour tolls to $5, while keeping off-peak rates at $3.50. It estimated that this schedule would raise the same amount as the MTA’s flat $4 price — about $100 million in additional toll revenue per year. However, it found that the variable tolls would reduce rush-hour round trips by 1-2 minutes, which, aggregated over the millions of annual peak trips, could be worth as much as $36 million annually.

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