While we learned yesterday that Europe is doing all it can to encourage people to walk or take public transit instead of their car, New York City is inadvertently doing the same thing thanks to the MTA's toll hikes on bridges and tunnels that went into effect back in December. Car crossings were down 3.9 percent this April from the same month in 2010, and trucks and buses dropped 6.6 percent. Fees at most crossings increased by 18 percent, or around $1, except for the Henry Hudson Bridge, which increased by 33 percent to $4 (if paying cash). All this, the Post reports, resulted in a $6.4 million drop in revenue in the first quarter of 2011. If they can't close their budget gaps from tolls, guess whose fares are about to get hiked up?
The MTA claims that the loss can't solely be blamed on high tolls. An usually wet April and high gas prices caused "about 1 percent" of the agency's 2.7 percent drop in first quarter revenue from 2010 to 2011. As a special treat for those who have no problem shelling out tolls, the MTA says that all work on bridges and tunnels will be suspended next week for July 4th, because the Founding Fathers really hated waiting on the Bronx-Whitestone bridge.
