This Time Last Year

Posted March 10, 2014
Filed under: E-ZPass®, New NY Bridge, Tappan Zee Bridge, Thruway Authority, TIFIA | Tags: E-ZPass®, EarthCam®, New NY Bridge, Tappan Zee Bridge, Thruway Authority, TIFIA |

Hope springs eternal. Well, it is almost spring (10 days and counting).

First Daylight Savings Time sunrise/EarthCam® construction camera

Hope is what motorists have for congestion-free roads once Ramp E closes this morning. I nearly drove onto the service road Friday instead of the jug-handle turn on South Broadway. And it was right in front of me.

Speaking of memory, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s comment last year about the TIFIA (Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act) loan rings a bell. “This is another important step forward for the New NY Bridge project, one that will help keep tolls affordable for motorists,” he said in a March 8, 2013, press release, as the application moved along in the process.

Summer 2012 alarm that fares would triple — $14 cash, $13.30 with E-ZPass®, and $168 for commuters ($8.40 per trip) — prompted him to ask the Thruway Authority to create a toll and finance task force.

This year, at least, fares are status quo: cars pay $5 cash, $4.75 with E-ZPass®, and commuters pay $3 (20-trip booklet for $60).

Thanks to the governor for suggesting fare discounts for Westchester and Rockland County residents, whether or not they commute daily. Not so with trucks: I feel commercial vehicles deserve to pay more – at least on the new bridge.

We’ll see how much the TIFIA loan helps curb costs.

I’d like to know what you think.

Kaleidoscope Eyes