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Follow TURFNew York & New Jersey steep toll hikes draw threats of legal action
Link to article here.
I've seen it all, now government is raising tolls from $8 to $12 on bridges in a single jump to help pay to re-build the World Trade Center! Runaway taxation run amok! Holding commuters hostage to government wish lists.
Bridge, Tunnel Toll Hikes Now in Effect
Monday, Sep 19, 2011 | Updated 6:39 AM EDT
NBC News - New York
Commuters crossing bridges and tunnels between New York City and New Jersey are now paying higher toll prices as a result of the price hike passed last month by the Port Authority.
The new toll, which went into effect at 3 a.m. Sunday, is $12 each way for cash-paying drivers crossing the George Washington Bridge, Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel, Goethals Bridge, Bayonne Bridge and Outerbridge Crossing. That's a $4 increase over the previous toll price of $8.
E-ZPass users now pay $9.50 for each trip during peak hour, up from $8.
By December 2015 cash tolls will increase gradually to $15 under the plan approved Aug. 19. Peak-hour tolls for E-ZPass users will rise gradually to $12.50.
AAA last week urged the U.S. Department of Transportation to block the toll increase, claiming the hikes violate federal law.
The group said the increase violates a federal law that requires bridge tolls to be "just and reasonable," and it sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood asking him to act.
"It's an egregious example of the motorists getting ripped off," AAA New York spokesman Robert Sinclair said.
AAA also said using toll revenues to build the new World Trade Center site owned by the Port Authority goes against the organization's mission to ensure tolls and revenues go back into transportation, not into "speculative office development."
The Port Authority had originally proposed even steeper toll increases, but was forced to scale back after the governors of New York and New Jersey threatened to veto them.
In addition to the bridge toll increases, the fare on the Port Authority Trans-Hudson subway line will rise from $1.75 to $2 on Sunday. By 2015 it is scheduled to increase to $2.75.
The Port Authority's coffers have been hit hard by security-related projects following the 9/11 attacks, a drop in revenue caused by the global economic slump, and the $11 billion World Trade Center complex.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC New York
Link to article here.
NJ Man Sues Over Toll Hikes, Claims Bias Against Poor
Wednesday, Sep 21, 2011 | Updated 8:51 AM EDT
NJ Man Sues Over Toll Hikes, Claims Bias
A New Jersey man has filed a federal lawsuit in New York over the Port Authority's toll increase.
Yoel Weisshaus of New Milford claims the increase is an abuse of power and discriminates against him because he is poor.
Cash tolls on the George Washington Bridge, Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel, Goethals Bridge, Bayonne Bridge and Outerbridge Crossing went up from $8 to $12 on Sunday.
Weisshaus claims the tolls are targeted to restrict minimum-wage earners and will be used to complete the World Trade Center project instead of improving bridges and tunnels.
The Record newspaper reports the unemployed Bergen Community College student, who frequently visits his grandparents in Brooklyn, has asked the court to waive filing fees because he can't afford them. He is representing himself.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC New York