Toll Discounts Sought For Rocklanders Crossing The MCB

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — Rockland County officials are calling on a state committee to recommend discounted tolls for residents who travel across the Tappan Zee.

The county legislature voted 10-0 Tuesday to urge the Toll Advisory Panel to create the discounts for the new Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.

The resolution came as a result of a public input meeting held by the New York State Thruway Authority's panel. The panel's mission: to review toll rates, potential resident and commuter discount programs and commercial vehicle rates on the newly-built Hudson River crossing.

Its creation was announced July 10. Its public meetings were held in Westchester July 17 and on July 18 in Rockland.

The short notice irritated many. “After years of Hudson Valley residents pleading to have their voices heard on tolling, only to be met with inaction from the State, it is unbelievably irresponsible for the State to give the community just one week’s notice of an opportunity to testify," said state Sen. James Skoufis.

Legislators Harriet Cornell and Nancy Low-Hogan both addressed the toll advisory panel and submitted written comments. They are also the sponsors of the resolution adopted by the County Legislature.

“Rockland County has far fewer options when it comes to public transportation and getting into Westchester or New York City for a job or a cultural event,” Cornell said. “That fact must be acknowledged and one way is to provide steeply discounted toll rates to Rockland County bridge users. The cost of building the new bridge and of operating the Thruway system cannot fall on the backs of Rockland County residents and businesses.”

Although Rockland is a member of the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District, it is the least served by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, county officials said. It is estimated that Rockland County residents and businesses contribute $42 million more in funding to the MTA than they receive in the form of services.

The lack of public transportation options means that more than 60 percent of Rockland residents who work in Manhattan, Westchester County or Connecticut either drive or carpool, and the estimate doesn’t include the residents who are forced to drive to the theater, museums, restaurants, sporting and other events in New York City.

“It is estimated that the current $5 bridge toll will at least double after 2020,” Low-Hogan said. “We can’t expect hard-working Rockland County families and businesses to pay twice the amount. It’s simply not economically feasible.”

The last Thruway toll increase was in 2010. The toll has been kept stable through a $2 billion infusion to the Thruway Stabilization Fund in the State budget. The funding is expected to be depleted in 2020.

The toll on the MCB is $5 ($4.75 with E-Z Pass). The toll on the George Washington Bridge is $15 (with E-Z Pass: $10.50 off-peak/ $12.50 peak).

Legislators voted to urge that a graduated toll discount program for residents and local commuters be put in place as a reasonable and fair way to acknowledge and compensate Rockland bridge users for the undue burden they contend with when they need to cross the Hudson River, Low-Hogan said.

"The Tappan Zee Bridge was a cash cow for the Thruway for decades, second only to the Woodbury to Buffalo trips in toll revenue," Rockland County Executive Ed Day said in his testimony to the panel. "The vast majority of that money was spent somewhere else. We can no longer allow revenue generated at this Hudson Valley crossing to be spent anywhere else."