Drive 12miles to avoid a $13 toll?

[JEDI]

Verrazano bridge in nyc.

i'm going back to DC from brooklyn, ny.
thinking of going thru manhatten and the holland tunnel. (no tolls for outbound holland.)
it adds 12miles to my commute which i predict will only add ~12 min at 60mph. (Leaving b4 10am EST.)

Yes/no?


edit:
car gets 30mpg.
12miles @ $3/gallon in NJ = ~$1

 

[sdifox]

how well do you know nyc? Is the extra time worth 12 bux for you?

 

[bruceb]

Yes, I would, especially if my car gets good gas mileage. If traffic is moving fine, it will only add 15 minutes or so to the trip. You do have to get into Manhattan (don't know where you are starting) but if you are in the East Bronx there will be a Toll on the Triborough Bridge. You can take the Harlem River Drive or the 3rd Avenue bridge to avoid the toll. In Queens or Brooklyn, you can pick the Williamsburg, Brooklyn or Manhattan Bridge to get into Manhattan.

 

[DaTT]

so people in NYC can't drive all around their own city without paying tolls?

 

[sdifox]

so people in NYC can't drive all around their own city without paying tolls?

toll bridge, highway and tunnel are common there. There are non toll ones, but they take longer. If you are familiar with the routes you can reduce your tolls.

 

[IGemini]

If all it added was that amount of time, I would go around. NYC bridge tolls are relatively steep. The time you're leaving puts it around morning rush, so I don't know how the traffic is.

 

[Pardus]

Verrazano-Narrows Bridge toll is suppose to increase to $16.00 in 2012.

 

[lxskllr]

Sometimes I drive farther and pay the same toll just for a better road. Based only on the facts provided, yes I drive to get away from the toll. If that means bumper-bumper traffic, then hell no.

Edit:
IRS gives you 30¢ a mile? If so, you be making 70¢ a mile by avoiding the toll.

 

[jlee]

Hell yes. Even if I went nuts with the happy pedal, that's still only $4 in gas, and I don't mind driving...plus, my experience with tolls in NYC (though mostly GWB) doesn't say that it'll be much faster than going 12 miles around...I've been stuck for a damn hour-plus to get through a toll.

 

[Doppel]

I sure would.

 

[nageov3t]

in theory? yes... but in your specific case, that "12 miles" is really going to be an extra 2 hours onto your drive.

 

[dmcowen674]

Verrazano-Narrows Bridge toll is suppose to increase to $16.00 in 2012.

Awesome :thumbsup:

 

[DominionSeraph]

Hell yes. Even if I went nuts with the happy pedal, that's still only $4 in gas

Give me the keys to your new baby and I bet I could use $8.

 

[Soundmanred]

manhatten

 

[MotF Bane]

If you can actually sustain 60, absolutely.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

This will add much more than 12 minutes to your trip. What time of day are you leaving?

 

[Taughnter]

This will add much more than 12 minutes to your trip. What time of day are you leaving?

Sure sounds like it. Is this commute happening today? If so, definitely cut through Manhattan and take the Holland tunnel as nobody is on the road. On any non-holiday weekday and most weekend days this trip is going to vary, but be forewarned that going from Brooklyn to the Holland tunnel can be terrible regardless of how you go from Brooklyn to Manhattan. Canal street and the surrounding area can be a nightmare when tunnel traffic backs up.

I don't generally take the Verrazano since my destination in NJ is far north of there, but my friend goes that way a lot to get to and from work and he seems to think it is worth the toll when there is traffic. Then again, being from NY/NJ he's probably more used to the insane tolls.

 

[glenn1]

Driving 12 miles one-way to move the hell out of NYC would be a good start.

 

[Spikesoldier]

12mi in NYC? isnt that like an hour or two of travel time?

 

[Squisher]

Sometimes I drive farther and pay the same toll just for a better road. Based only on the facts provided, yes I drive to get away from the toll. If that means bumper-bumper traffic, then hell no.

Edit:
IRS gives you 30¢ a mile? If so, you be making 70¢ a mile by avoiding the toll.

I remember when it was $.30/mile, but the IRS gives you $.555/mile for 2011, so that 12 mile commute will cost on average $6.66 Most people don't figure in the depreciation on the car and maintenance costs (tires, oil, air filters, etc.) when figuring out their true mileage costs.

 

[Ken g6]

Google Maps estimates:
- Default: 229mi, 4:29
- Holland tunnel: 234mi, 4:35

5 more miles, 6 more minutes? I'd do it. :thumbsup:

 

[nageov3t]

Google Maps estimates:
- Default: 229mi, 4:29
- Holland tunnel: 234mi, 4:35

5 more miles, 6 more minutes? I'd do it. :thumbsup:

google maps doesn't seem to be taking into account traffic.

during rush hour, it's taken me over an hour to drive 5 miles through Manhattan.

 

[Brainonska511]

I wouldn't drive through Manhattan to save a few bucks on tolls. Driving through Manhattan is almost always a nightmare.

 

[alent1234]

FrOm Brooklyn take the vz. Not worth it going through manhattan. Taking the bqe to the Brooklyn bridge and going through Chinatown will waste gas and time

 

[EagleKeeper]

When it is my dime and I have the time, no toll