News: Cross-border
Events Calendar
3 Comments Share
Truckers get lump of toll in NY; ATA fights back

NEW YORK -- New York and New Jersey's "ill-conceived and unprecedented" massive toll hike should be stopped the American Trucking Associations told Govs. Chris Christie and Andrew Cuomo.

ATA president and CEO Bill Graves called on the respective governors to reconsider a plan by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey to increase bridge and tunnel tolls between $2 and $5 per axle for commercial vehicles.

The toll hikes will mean an extra $50 per five-axle truck for E-Z Pass over five years.

Drivers paying cash would have to fork over an additional $3 per axle, per trip. By 2015, the toll price would be over $100 for non E-Z Pass users.

That's about three times higher than other comparable bridges nationwide, said Graves.

The ATA figures that under this and other proposed toll-hiking plans in the I-95 corridor, a truck traveling between Baltimore to Manhattan will see tolls rise from $114.25 today to $209.25 in just three years.

"We urge you to veto this proposal, which will not only devastate trucking companies who serve the New York City area, but will also increase the cost of doing business in a region already regarded as among the most expensive in the nation," Graves wrote in a letter yesterday.

Graves wrote that truckers are willing to pay their "fair share" for the roads and bridges, but they vehemently oppose to a plan where "a majority of new revenues will subsidize projects with no benefit to those paying the tolls," such as the Authority's other operations.

 
Email Editor     Comment Below
Rate this Article!
We Recommend:
Popular this Week:
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Social Activity


(optional)

(optional)

(optional)

Notify me of other comments on this story (requires email and password)


* Please type the letters above exactly as they appear:  

Please Note:

While we value your feedback, please avoid profane or personal attacks. You should know that if your comment contains libelous, prejudicial or just plain wrong statements, it will be deleted.

Anonymous

Rating
4
23
19
Bridge tolls are a cost of doing business and, as such, should be passed on to the end consumer. If NYC residents want the goods, then they should have to pay the price increase. No trucking company should be expected to absorb this (or any) increase.

A Perret

Rating
4
22
18
You've seen nothing yet: The Illinois Toll Authority just announced that it will be increasing its ITOLL rates by 87% come January 2012. We just keep throwing money out the window....literally!

Anonymous

Rating
3
21
18
the answer is simple...stop taking freight into new york and new jersey...see how long they can go without consumables before they decide to drop the toll...and what is the point of a toll anyway...dont our federal taxes pay for the upkeep of the interstate system?

Report Abuse

Video Reel