The NYC Toll Plan Simply Will Not Die

The very idea of tolling the East River bridges keeps getting resurrected more times than George Romero has zombies in his movies. It's the idea that will not die.

And now, Gov. David Paterson is seemingly on board with the idea.

Gov. Paterson is again on board with a plan that would toll 13 now-free East and Harlem River bridges at the cost of a subway ride for all drivers -- but the latest twist would exempt those crossing the spans for business or medical purposes, officials said today.

The new plan meant to bail out the MTA from a budget deficit also calls for a 5 to 10 percent tax increase on all non-city residents who use long-term garage parking spaces in Manhattan and a 50-cent "dropoff" surcharge on every taxi ride, according to former MTA chief Richard Ravitch, the plan's author.

The proposal is a desperate attempt to get Senate Democrats to agree to an MTA rescue plan that would stave off crippling fare hikes and service cuts.

The taxi and parking taxes would generate about $150 million a year for the transit agency, and bring in about $1 billion a year in revenue when paired with the tolls, Ravitch said.

An 8 percent fare hike and a business tax of 33 cents for every $100 of payroll is also still on the table. The business tax is expected to bring in about $1 billion a year.

"They've been talked about for weeks with many members of the legislature," said Ravitch, who said some details of the plan still need to be hammered out by lawmakers.

For all those who are thinking that they're going to be able to save those federal tax refunds, I hope you've decided to squirrel away something extra to cover the added charges and tolls in the NYC metro area that are heading your way.

NY1 reports that the tolls will be equal to the subway fare. Gee, that will make it all go down so much better.

What goes unmentioned in all this is the cost of actually implementing the tolling of these bridges. It's not going to be cheap, and the costs will eat into the revenues hoped for. In fact, no one quite knows how much this will eat into revenues generated by businesses in the NY metro area as they avoid traveling into New York City.

Another report suggests that additional revenues will be generated from taxing non-city resident parking in garages higher than city residents. Expect a reduction in overall city revenues as people decide to seek their entertainment and business elsewhere.

UPDATE:
Just in case you're wondering why I refer to this as a plan that will not die, its first iteration was Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing tax which would have taxed traffic on the East River Bridges to go into Manhattan as a means to reduce congestion.

Now, we're getting the same overall effect, just by a different name.