Avella continues to push forth legislation to put transportation in the control of the City and not of the transit authorities, and to ban East River tolls altogether. Currently, the power to implement MTA’s bridge toll proposition sits with the State. Avella’s legislation would shift that power from the State and let the City control tolls on its own transit policy. [This can be deleted – there is too much repetition of the same thing]
City resolution 44, penned by Avella, asks the New York State Legislature to remove New York City Transit and MTA Bus Company from the control of the MTA and transfer control to the City. City control is “the only way to improve MTA service,” Avella said. He hopes that City control will ensure accountability of MTA’s spending. “This agency has a history of wasting money and giving perks to their board members.”
New York City is one of only a handful of cities in the nation that does not control the tolls on its own bridges and thoroughfares. Another bill by Avella, introduction 372, would prohibit tolls on any City-operated bridge. “Tolls, once imposed, never go away,” Avella explained. “They only increase.”
If Avella and his bills’ supporters manage to get Res. 44 passed by fall, when the MTA’s capital budget must be finalized, the new legislation could be a huge game-changer.
Since the proposal to enact the tolls was first heard, it has raised concerns on many fronts. One of the objections opponents have with the toll proposal is that it forces drivers—people who don’t primarily use public transit—to foot the bill for the transit agency. It also discourages travel between the boroughs and Manhattan, which is vital to the local economy. Jack Friedman of the Queens Chamber of Commerce called the tolls a “business killer.” “We have many businesses that survive on delivering to Manhattan,” he said. The tolls proposal, as it is currently written, provides no recourse for commercial drivers.
On the flip side of this argument, proponents say that residents of other boroughs benefit from a thriving transit-supported city, even if they don’t use the MTA.
Though the Federal economic stimulus package offers enough money for the agency to fill its $1.2 billion budget deficit, Avella fears that it will “try to get as much money as it can” using the tolls.
Instead of enacting tolls, the MTA should consider changing its managerial structure, cutting administrative costs, and finding alternative funding options, Avella said in his Jan. 20 testimony to the City Council. He is in support of options such as reinstating the commuter tax, which City Comptroller William Thompson had suggested.
