FARE TOLLS: Congressman Max Rose introduced legislation to give commuters a discount
on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge toll. Photo by Congressman Max Rose’s offi ce
COURIER LIFE, MARCH 13-19, 2020 3
BY ROSE ADAMS
A southern Brooklyn lawmaker
wants to give commuters a discount on
the bridge with the country’s most expensive
toll.
The Tax Relief for Bridge Tolls Act,
introduced on March 5 by Congressman
Max Rose, would provide a credit
to commuters who spend over $1,000
on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge
annually. The legislation would
save Staten Islanders about $215 and
Brooklynites $1,091 each year, Rose
announced at a press conference on
Saturday.
“This bill will put hundreds, if
not thousands of dollars back in the
bank accounts of Staten Islanders and
Brooklynites,” said Rose, a Democrat
whose district encompasses Staten Island
and a swath of southern Brooklyn.
“If you want to see the money
you’re spending on tolls go down, not
up, then this bill is for you — and I am
going to be doing everything I can to
build support across the United States
so that this bill can become law.”
The legislation would allow drivers
to collect a 50 percent credit on all
money spent on tolls over $1,000, and
would apply to commuters who travel
on bridges with a peak toll free of $11
or higher, including New Jersey’s Outerbridge
Crossing, Goethals Bridge
and Bayonne Bridge.
The Verrazzano currently charges
E-ZPass holders $12.25 and non-EZPass
holders $19 to enter Staten Island,
while allowing Brooklyn-bound
drivers in for free. The one-way tolling
system, which was created in the
1980s to reduce traffi c on the Staten
Island side, is the only federally-mandated
one-way toll in the country, but
legislation passed in December will
split the toll in two. Once the Metropolitan
Transit Authority installs the
new tolling infrastructure, E-ZPass
holders will fork over $6.12 and other
drivers will pay $9.50 — but the MTA
has a long way to go before installing
the new toll system, Staten Island Advance
reported in late January.
As is, Brooklynites who commute
to Staten Island every weekday pay
$3,182.40 annually with an E-ZPass
and $4,940 without one, while Staten
Island residents with the resident discount
pass pay $1,430 annually, according
to Rose. Drivers will pay the same
rate once split-tolling goes into effect,
but the rep’s new bill would cut down
Brooklynites’ annual toll fees to about
$2,091 and Staten Islanders’ to $1,215.
The proposal comes almost a year
after a group of state legislators introduced
legislation that would give
Brooklynites the same resident discount
on the Verrazzano that Staten
Islanders receive.
In April of 2019, State Senator
Andrew Gounardes and Assemblywoman
Mathylde Frontus introduced
legislation offering Brooklynites who
cross the bridge 10 or more times per
month a resident discount, charging
them $5.50 per ride as opposed to
$12.25. That bill is still awaiting a vote
in the Senate’s transportation committee
and has been referred to the
Assembly’s committee on corporations,
authorities and commissions.
FARE-Y NICE
Proposed legislation would lower
Verrazzano Bridge toll for commuters
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