Since you can’t make enemies on Facebook, I’m just hoping for bridge tolls. There are a dozen anti-toll Facebook groups; anyone want to start a pro-toll group?
You know, that’s a pretty decent idea that Steven Cohen submitted in his comment. Putting some sort of a cap on the tolls that a given vehicle might pay in a single day (I think his suggestion is too low but that’s nitpicking) should help discourage car commuters without really screwing with taxis (good luck finding a cab from Manhattan to Brooklyn with unlimited two-way bridge tolls) and businesses that have no other option but to drive (you can’t deliver a load of bricks to a construction site on the subway).
Any hope and excitement created by Barack Obama’s victory is quickly dashed by the cold reality that Marty Markowitz will probably run unopposed for a third term as Brooklyn Borough President.
Fendergal
I would gladly form such a Facebook group, but help! I need ideas on a name. My creative brainwaves are not revving at the moment.
How about “No More Free Ride over the East River!”
Barnard
Josh, fyi, the congestion pricing plan approved by the state-appointed commission that Sheldon Silver refused to hold a vote on last spring had a cap on tolls. The proposed congestion charge (like London’s and other cities’ schemes) was a once a day $8 fee. Pay once and drive back and forth across the bridges to your heart’s delight.
It’s a commonsense part of the plan. Good thinking.
Marty Markowitz, please find $1 billion dollars so I don’t have to pay $3 every time I (a fellow “outerborough” Brooklynite) take the train to Manhattan. You may drive there for free, but what about the rest of us? We have to pay? Thanks. Good luck when you run for mayor, and it’s your fault the subway fare is $5.
Jeff, i wish i could say it was a Freudian slip, it was a typo, but a funny one at that, i might write that into my repertoire…
I honestly think the mayor should have the authority to liquidate assets, and probably does. While the Brooklyn Bridge is worth more than 1$ per say, selling it to the MTA for that amount would make sure repairs are done on time when they are needed (remember what happened to the Williamsburg bridge years ago – almost falling into the river because of 20 years of postponed repairs) and the city wouldn’t have to pay for it. As it is, the city really gains nothing from the bridges: no tolls etc. Rather, there are costs associated with maintaining them.
This would be the basis of the argument for selling the bridges to the MTA, and once they are in MTA hands the issue of collecting tolls will no longer be an issue for short sighted politicians like Marty Markowitz.
when repairs are needed, the revenue for the MTA collected by tolling would obviously decrease, however for the most part the tolls would garner a large amount of revenue for the MTA.
