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rupertalderson t1_jcf9y7t wrote

Reply to comment by ArcticBlaze09 in NY lawmakers say they won't support MTA's planned fare hike for commuters by King-of-New-York

The MTA operates 7 bridges (Whitestone, Throgs Neck, RFK/Triborough, Verrazano, Henry Hudson, Cross Bay, and Marine Parkway) and 2 tunnels (Battery and Midtown), all of which allow for toll payment with EZPass. So how is it unrelated? It is quite relevant, they make quite a bit of money off bridges & tunnels (nearly $2 billion annually).

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ArcticBlaze09 t1_jcffchr wrote

I see. I don’t see the correlation between bridge/ tunnel tolls and fare hikes for the subway.

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mew5175_TheSecond t1_jcffzam wrote

The MTA needs money to fund the subways. Part of the way the MTA earns money is from tolls. If they are able to bring in more money from tolls, they do not need to resort to fare hikes to bring in more money. Hope that clears it up.

You are correct that more people using cars does not encourage subway use. However, car users still generate revenue for the MTA.

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boeing77X t1_jcfh2kk wrote

The amount of fake plate toll evasion is insane. They could easily recover/fine/impound vehicles if they want to. That’d be more than the extra revenue from any fare hikes

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Arleare13 t1_jcfi6mk wrote

Because both the subways and the bridges/tunnels are operated by MTA, they can use money from one for the other. More toll payments might mean less of a need to raise subway fares.

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TheNormalAlternative t1_jcfivgh wrote

The MTA runs the bridges, tunnels and mass transit systems [entirely within NY state]. They all are paid for out of the same coffers. The MTA can use its money for whichever project they want. It's all the same pockets.

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rupertalderson t1_jcg063e wrote

For the sake of completeness:

The MTA operated 9 bridges & tunnels in total. Some tolled bridges are operated by the Port Authority (GWB, Lincoln Tunnel, Holland Tunnel, Goethals, Bayonne, Outerbridge) or the NYS DOT. All NYC DOT crossings are free, as are all (I think) NYS DOT bridges.

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