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COURIER L 18 IFE, NOV. 13-19, 2020
Split tolling on VZ
to begin Dec. 1
BY MARK HALLUM
Split tolling is set to
begin on the Verrazzano
Narrows Bridge Dec.
1, something expected to
help improve air quality
by limiting the volume
of cars passing between
Brooklyn and Staten Island
by eliminating a
longstanding loophole.
Now that the Brooklyn
bound tolls match
those of the Hugh L.
Carey and Queens-Midtown
Tunnels as well as
the Whitestone, RFK and
Throgs Neck Bridges,
transit planners hope to
see a more even distribution
of cars and trucks
passing through the city.
“The restoration of
split tolling will end a
30-year loophole in New
York City that will help
alleviate congestion on
Staten Island while improving
the environment,”
MTA Chairman
Pat Foye said.
Split tolling ends
three decades of the Verrazzano
Narrows Bridge
being the only one in the
country with a federally
mandated one-way toll,
and could cut the number
of motorists traveling
through Staten Island
by an estimated
at 7,000 per weekday by
pre-pandemic numbers,
according to the MTA.
Average pre-pandemic
traffi c for the
bridges is about 215,000
on weekdays, the agency
said, making it one of the
busiest in the nation.
Rachel Weinberger, a
senior fellow for transportation
at the Regional
Plan Association, says
instead of only tolling in
one direction could be a
successful measure for
diverting traffi c, especially
trucks, because it
eliminates a loophole.
“The huge advantage
of this, the reason
is, with the way the tolls
have been, there’s been
an incentive to just come
one way through Staten
Island – the free direction
– rather than taking
what might be a more direct
route to where their
ultimate destination is,”
Weinberger said.
Congressman Jerrold
SPLIT DECISION: Two-way
tolling will soon begin on the
Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.
File photo by Steve Solomonson
Nadler said the split
tolling rule was passed
in 1986 by congress to
smooth out stop-and-go
traffi c at toll booths, but
with open road tolling in
place since 2017, the rule
is no longer necessary.
“The restoration of
split-tolling will greatly
improve traffi c and congestion
in Brooklyn and
Lower Manhattan, while
also capturing much
needed new funding
for the MTA from outof
state trucks, which
no longer will avoid a
toll entering New York
City via Staten Island or
dodge tolls on the Hudson
River Bridge and
tunnel crossings,” Nadler
said. “All New Yorkers
will reap the benefi ts
of the restoration of twoway
toll collection.”
The senior Brooklyn
Democrat pushed for the
legislation to reverse split
tolling along with representatives
Max Rose and
Nydia Velázquez.
Currently, drivers
fork over $19 on each trip
from Brooklyn to Staten
Island, or $12.24 for travelers
using the E-ZPass
system and $5.50 for
Staten Island residents,
while drivers coming to
Kings County cross the
bridge for free.
Starting at 2 am Dec.
1, motorists entering
Staten Island and Brooklyn
will have their toll
cut in half to $2.75 for
Staten Island residents,
$1.70 for Staten Island
carpool customers, $6.12
for E-ZPass users and
$9.50 for Tolls by Mail,
according to the MTA.
Additional reporting
by Kevin Duggan
H2168_MKT21-15 M File & Use 10022020