New York Man Jumps Bridge Tolls 1,000 Times, Owes $30,000 in Tolls and Fees

[Capt Caveman]

Except the toll revenue far exceeds the actual maintenance costs, so it's just a tax on selective group of people.

Covers more than the bridge but the roads under the Authority.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

How in the hell could they let something like this happen for 8 years? You would think after 1, 2 or 3 years that maybe they would have done something. So 8 years later they now deiced to tack on 25k and go after the the guy. It just so happens that New York City is billions in debt makes you think hummmmm.

I did not even realize that it was 8 years until dawp pointed it out. I had to go back and reread it again because I could not believe it. Stupid fools for letting this happen as long as it did.

- Classic "everyone's fault but the actual perpetrator" mentality thats destroying this country.

 

[Bignate603]

Covers more than the bridge but the roads under the Authority.

Exactly. They use the bridge tolls to fund the maintenance of the roads in and around the city. Unlike most places, NYC has relatively few ways to get in and out of the city so it's pretty easy to charge tolls on them as they enter the city. You enter the city with a car and use the roads there? Then you pay the toll for their construction and maintenance. It's about as fair as you can get.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

Exactly. They use the bridge tolls to fund the maintenance of the roads in and around the city. Unlike most places, NYC has relatively few ways to get in and out of the city so it's pretty easy to charge tolls on them as they enter the city. You enter the city with a car and use the roads there? Then you pay the toll for their construction and maintenance. It's about as fair as you can get.

The Port Authority doesn't pay for NYC roads. Just as an example, a lot of the surplus toll revenue is going to pay for the WTC redevelopment. What does that have to do with bridge tolls? Why are users of the bridge paying for real estate development in another part of the city? More generally, why do we need a public agency engaging in real estate development at all? It's not like lower Manhattan is some blighted area that needs the government to redevelop it.

 

[BrownShoes]

Toll money also helps subsidize subways, buses and trains.

 

[geecee]

While I have no problem with EZPASS/MTA going after fare evaders, I get annoyed when the problem is on their end, and yet they send me notices that I didn't pay. Then I have to waste time with them proving that I did. At least 3 times in the last 3 months, they have said that I went through the toll booth without paying, and they accompany the notice with a $50 fine, plus the actual toll amount. I have my EZpass prominently displayed on my car window, and have no problem with it the other 97 times out of 100. The first time, it was just their toll machine that was malfunctioning. The next two times, I had to show them on my transaction list that the machine had registered payment for the toll at the time and date that they registered the violations. Its not a big deal, but it annoys me that I have to prove to them I paid, when their toll system should just work.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

Toll money also helps subsidize subways, buses and trains.

Yup, the point is that it's basically the opposite of what Capt. Caveman said. They aren't charging the users of the bridge the toll to pay for a service that they're using, it's merely a tax on a selective group of people to pay for things that politicians deem "good".

 

[Jeffg010]

- Classic "everyone's fault but the actual perpetrator" mentality thats destroying this country.

Were did I say this was not his fault? Tell me why they waited 8 FUCKING YEARS to go after this guy. How hard is it to have a cop watching the toll booth for people who don't pay? Letting people drive through the toll booth for 8 year with out paying is a brilliant idea.

 

[Blackjack200]

Over 250k cars go across the GWB every day @ $8/car. That $2 million per day or $730 million per year. The bridge upper level was finished in 1931 and the lower was finished in 1946. The bridge tolls have absolutely nothing to do with the cost to build and maintain the bridge. The Port Authority uses the money to fund their other operations.

I was talking about the general case. In the specific case of the GWB, I think it would be legitimate to use the excess toll revenues to subsidize other Hudson River crossings, thus discouraging drivers from using the GWB and encouraging them to use alternate routes and balancing the traffic. I agree that WTC development makes no sense. I feel the same way about public money for sports stadiums/arenas.

 

[alkemyst]

$5k principal, $25k interest.

I am sorry but how come loan sharking is legal when the government is doing it? LOL

US government = The biggest gangster/mafia of all.

Breaking the rules and getting fined <> loan sharking...