Group Recommends Doubling Tolls At New Tappan Zee Bridge
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A non-partisan commission is recommending a toll increase on the new Tappan Zee Bridge.
The Citizens Budget Commission tabulated all of the numbers and debt projections for the $4 billion span and concluded that in order to pay off bonds and a federal loan, the $5 toll should more than double.
The group recommends tolls be $10.61 for a passenger vehicle, and $7.50 for someone with a commuter plan.
State Sen. David Carlucci believes that could kill the local economy.
"I don't think that we should raise the toll at all," Carlucci told WCBS 880's Sean Adams. "I think that we need to start looking at other ways to fund our infrastructure. If it's just off the backs of local toll payers we're going to have a struggling system from now until eternity. We have to start to have a new paradigm in the way that we fund our infrastructure."
Carlucci suggested implementing a discount for Rockland and Westchester residents and cracking down on toll evasion.
Recently, Thruway Authority Acting Executive Director Matthew J. Driscoll told WCBS 880 that it is premature to talk about raising the toll.
In the mean time, the toll for the new Tappan Zee Bridge is frozen until 2020.
