On Sunday, drivers who choose to travel on the Thruway will pay 5 percent more, and those who use EZPass will be getting less of a discount.
The toll charge change is part of a Thruway Authority effort to raise money to pay for $2.1 billion in improvements to the Thruway's roads and bridges, according to the D&C.
Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman David Gantt, D-Rochester, said the toll increases have pushed more motorists off the Thruway and to local roads, limiting the amount of revenue raised by the toll increases.
"There's no reason for them to be raising tolls on the Thruway," Gantt said. "It runs people off, they still don't meet their goals, so what benefit is it to them?"
Quote from the D&C:
Quote from the D&C: "Authority officials said the increases have been necessary amid a decline in traffic and the need to raise more revenue to fund road improvements."
When will government realize that raising taxes and increasing fees does not generate more revenue. It in fact reduces revenue. Traffic has decreased on the thruway because of increased fares and now they want to raise them again.
BTW, the thruway was supposed to be a non-toll road once it was paid for. In 1997, the construction bond used to build the Thruway had been paid off, and all tolls along the Thruway were supposed to be abolished. However, the New York State Legislature voted to maintain the tolls.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_State_Thruway
According to the NYSTA
According to the NYSTA website, the TappanZee bridge downstate averages 150,000 vehicles a day. At $5 a pop, that is $270,000,000 a year! That is one example.
The Authority is no different than any other leech commision set up in this state.
God, why is it so complicated?
Yeah, but you'll be getting
Yeah, but you'll be getting new pavement from Batavia to Pembroke
This just bugs my OCD. When
This just bugs my OCD. When the last raise went into effect, it brought Batavia <-> Rochester to $1.25, which I can easily dig out in spare change in my car.
Having to dig out that extra nickel is going to bother me like something furious.
I'm laughin, I hear ya, when
I'm laughin, I hear ya, when I lived in Maryland I used to cross the Bay Bridge in Annapolis every day and I would throw all my change into the fold down armrest, so I could dig out exact change (OCD), it of course wound up full of pennies, nickles and dimes, cause I would just grab the quarters (ADD) and weighed a ton. So then my wife or daughter would want to use my car at night or weekend and would throw the armrest up, all the extra weight would make it slam back, and change would go flying all over the back seat, floor, under the seat. Of course Mr. OCD/ADD(me) couldn't drive the car until all the change was back in the armrest. A couple weeks later, same thing again. Still funny. Moral of the story: get one of those metal change dispensers that people used to wear on their belts. OR: stick with OCD, not ADD