Unpaid MTA bridge and tunnel tolls may be an even bigger problem than previously understood.
That's according to an MTA memo flagged by the New York Post, which showed the transportation authority sent $3.7 billion in unpaid tolls to collections from 2021 to 2023. The Dec. 13 memo — a request for proposals from private contractors to collect the unpaid debts — forecasted $1.4 billion in unpaid tolls for 2024, $2 billion in 2025 and $2.1 billion in 2026.
Transit officials previously pinned the amount lost to toll cheats at around $50 million per year — far less than what the agency loses to subway and bus fare evaders. But the RFP from Dec. 13 said the MTA sends billions of dollars of unpaid tolls to collections, recouping just 8.2 percent of what it's owed.
Reps for the MTA did not return The Post's requests for comment. Streetsblog has also reached out for clarification — a spokesman told us The Post's story has "a number of factual issues." The total sent to collections likely includes hefty fines for unpaid tolls on top of the tolls themselves. If the astronomical figures are correct, however, it seems drivers, not transit riders, are New York's biggest infrastructure freeloaders.
We'll dig deeper on Monday when we get into more details with the MTA.
In other news:
- Speaking of The Post, the tabloid is already celebrating the end of congestion pricing — even though the Trump administration has yet to say how it plans to kill the toll. The paper's columnist Nicole Gelinas has provided a roadmap. But whether Trump's Federal Highway Administration can revoke its prior approval of the toll is an open question. If not, The Post's opinion and editorial writers are banking on action from Congress — and, well, good luck with that.
- Cyclist Francisco Valle-Alatorre, 44, who was rear-ended and injured by a driver on Roosevelt Avenue in September 2023 succumbed to his severe head injuries on Friday.
- Also on Friday, pedestrian Janet Henriquez was killed at the dangerous corner of Blake and Pennsylvania avenues, the NYPD said late on Sunday. We'll provide coverage on Monday.
- Another senior killed: The Nazis, Chernobyl and Covid couldn't kill Mayya Gil, but a driver killed the 95-year-old Brooklynite as she crossed a street near her home. (Gothamist, NY Post)
- Given the latest deaths, we're so thankful to have pro-death Council Member Vickie Paladino. Here's her latest screed about how "progressives tyrants" are trying to make roads safer.
- An analysis by Vital City on the nuances of subway crime shows where and when it happens, plus how often. Crime is most common at busy hubs, but more likely for victims "at smaller stations at the edges of the system late at night and early in the morning." (Gothamist)
- TV's Susie Essman visits the Cross-Bronx Expressway on "a tour of the Bronx" with CBS Sunday Morning. (YouTube)
- "Conducted yourself in an appalling manner": TWU International President John Samuelsen ousted Local 100 President Richard Davis for sexual misconduct with a subordinate. (Daily News, Gothamist)
- Term-limited Council Member Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island) will quit the Council this week to become a lobbyist. (NY Post)
- China's state-run English-language news outlet took a fair look at congestion pricing, speaking to activists on both sides of the issue in Chinatown. (CGTN America)
- NYPD will reassign 700s cops to the subway to cover Gov. Hochul's plan to have an officer on every overnight subway car. (NY Post)
- Assembly Member Jenifer Rakjumar will drop out of the race for city comptroller and instead challenge Jumaane Williams for public advocate, a race she almost certainly can't win. (Politico)
- New York City went five days without a shooting last week for the first time in 30 years. (Daily News)
- The latest performance assessment of Kathy Hochul's 60-percent congestion pricing toll is "mixed, but some commutes improve," the NY Times reported (but conveniently overlooked Streetsblog's coverage that crashes are down by 50 percent, saving lives).
- The Post ran a video of a skateboarding firefighter and asked "Is NYC congestion pricing behind his carless commute?" Answer: No.
