Nov 14, 2008 7:47 am US/Eastern
East River Tolls Plan Acquires Heavy Hitter
Gov. Paterson: MTA Has Debt Higher Than 46 States
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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If the MTA has its way, there will soon be tolls on all four East River bridges, including the fabled Brooklyn Bridge.
© by Dave Frieder, All Rights Reserved
A new supporter hopped on board the "toll the East River bridges" bandwagon on Thursday and he's a man with clout -- lots of clout when it comes to raising money for the Metropolitan Transportation Agency.
CBS 2 HD first told you exclusively about the plan a week ago.
New York Gov. David Paterson controls the MTA and he told CBS 2 HD Thursday that putting tolls on the four East River bridges may be one of the "drastic" remedies needed to keep subway, bus and rail fares from going through the roof.
With his support, the proposal to put tolls on the Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg and 59th Street bridges gets a major boost. Paterson said putting tolls on the spans is an idea whose time may have come.
"I think that very accurately we may have to look at tolls on the bridges right in the city," Paterson said.
The governor told CBS 2 HD that the MTA's crushing debt has brought him to that conclusion.
"The MTA itself which has a deficit, a debt, which is higher than 46 states, now has an $11-14 billion deficit, so I'm not surprised that they're suggesting drastic remedies," Paterson said.
Paterson's support will be crucial in getting the Legislature to support the plan. But the amount of revenue the tolls could bring in makes it tantalizing and not just for the MTA. City and state budget directors would love a piece of the almost $1 billion a year you get from tolling now free bridges, used by about half a million cars a day.
There are number of toll possibilities -- from putting tolls on just two of the spans to charging only during morning and evening rush hours.
Drivers' reactions were pretty much what you'd expect in these tough economic times.
"The traffic … getting to the bridge without tolls is hard enough, so imagine with tolls," Middle Village resident John Koenig said. "Where are all these cars going? Back up to get tickets for blocking the box back there?"
"I think we have to do what we have to do ... and it stinks, but if we need to make more money in the city, then we're going to have to figure out how to do it some way," Michelle Smith of Greenpoint said.
"I think it's ridiculous because, first of all, the economy is very bad, a lot of people do have not jobs and you're going to make a lot of people move out," added Sam Grunwald of Flushing.
No decision will be made until after the Ravitch Commission files its report in early December.
In the meantime the MTA will issue a gloom and doom report next week on how drastic the fare hikes and services cuts will be if there are no tolls and taxes to fill its budget gap.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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