Letter To The Editor: Proposed Cuomo Bridge Toll Hike

To the Editor:

Here are remarks regarding the New York State Thruway Authority’s proposed toll increases which I submitted to the NYSTA board.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment about the proposal to increase the cost of the vehicle tolls that are used to pay for the operation of the New York State Thruway system, including the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.

According to the Thruway’s proposal, in 2021, New York E-ZPass customers outside of those who use the Cuomo bridge will not be impacted by the Thruway’s proposal – they won’t see their toll rates increase at all.

This seems unfair and a return to the practices of the past, when – for decades - tolls from the Tappan Zee Bridge (the Cuomo’s predecessor), paid for costs throughout the entire Thruway corridor and New York State. In fact, the TZB’s toll revenue was used by the Thruway Authority to bail out the Canal Authority year after year after year.

Before increasing any Cuomo user’s toll, the Thruway Authority should consider treating all Thruway system users equally – if increases are needed, the impact must be shared equally, from the Cuomo bridge to the Woodbury exit to the Buffalo exits and so forth.

While I also appreciate that the Thruway’s plan includes a discount for daily commuters, their daily cost to cross the Cuomo bridge would increase by 15 percent between now and 2022, from $3 per day to $3.45 per day. This increase is unacceptable because Cuomo commuters have few meaningful public transportation options, forcing them to drive across the bridge; they have no real way of avoiding a toll increase.

Similarly, while the Thruway’s plan to keep tolls steady for Rockland and Westchester residents and businesses for the next two years seems positive, it deflects from the fact that Rockland, in particular, has very few choices when it comes to public transportation.

The toll would remain steady at $4.75 for residents and businesses of both counties who provide proof of residency to the E-ZPass system. Yet the time for a toll increase has never seemed worse. With so many workers and families suffering economic hardships at this time, and few public transportation options available, a significant discount is warranted, not an increase.

I am pleased to see, after so many instances of urging the Thruway to do so, that the issue of the toll structure for trucks is being included in this proposed toll hike plan. Trucks currently pay much less to cross the Cuomo bridge than what is charged at other crossings.

This has resulted in greatly increased truck traffic on the Thruway and the Cuomo bridge, a significant portion of it from outside the Rockland-Westchester area. Again, in terms of treating all Thruway and Cuomo bridge users equally, if tolls are to be increased, trucks must also pay their fair share.

I also applaud the Thruway Authority for completing the switch to cashless tolls. If you are an E-ZPass user, your toll is paid through the tag on your windshield. If you are not, a camera will record your license plate and mail you a bill.

The upside of this tremendous change is an end to toll booth lines that backed up for miles and left drivers and passengers sitting in traffic, sometimes for hours, vehicles idling and contributing to poor air quality. It makes one wonder why the switch wasn’t completed 20 years ago!

As Chair of the Rockland County Legislature’s Special Committee on Transit, I frequently hear of the many issues our public transportation users must contend with. It has been an ongoing challenge for decades.

Some years ago, I coined the phrase, “Transportation Orphan.” Rockland County is that orphan – located on the West Side of the Hudson River, but not belonging to New Jersey – forgotten and ignored by the State of New York with regard to transit.

Despite the formation of various committees and endless meetings over the past many years, today, Rockland County remains a place that is ignored by New York State when it comes to transit. Rockland County residents remain without reliable options for getting into New York City without crossing a bridge by car or bus to catch a train.

Rockland County residents have been left without a choice – they must use the Thruway to connect to other roadways to get into New York City, Westchester County, New Jersey and Orange County. They must also use the Cuomo bridge and have come to rely on the span (as they did its predecessor, the Tappan Zee Bridge) to cross the Hudson River.

Now we have learned that Rockland has also been targeted for potential service eliminations on both the Pascack Valley and Port Jervis lines, the only rail options for Rockland County commuters headed to Manhattan without crossing the Cuomo bridge, by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) due to severe revenue losses because of the pandemic. This makes it even worse when it comes to a lack of public transportation choices for Rockland County residents and businesses – and there is already a $40 million annual value gap between what Rockland County pays into the MTA and what it gets back in service.

I respectfully urge you to consider the needs of the hardworking men and women of Rockland County left with no other option than to use the Thruway and Cuomo bridge.

Finally, I urge you to be just and fair in determining tolls for our residents and businesses. I know you will do your best, and we will be watching and encouraging you to do so.

Rockland County Legislator Harriet Cornell

Chairwoman of the Legislature's Special Committee on Transit