Driving or taking a train into New York City and to area airports is going to start costing more soon, as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) seeks to fund large-scale repairs and improvements. The PANYNJ on Sept. 26 unanimously approved a wide-ranging package of toll and fare hikes that will affect hundreds of thousands of commuters, city residents and visitors to the region. The money will help fund a 10-year, $37 billion capital plan, estimated to bring in an additional $235 million per year.
In a nod to a chorus of opposition to its plan to charge a $4 fee for each taxi drop-off at the airports and $4 for both pickups and drop-offs by For-Hire Vehicle (FHV) services, the Port Authority agreed to reduce the fees to $2.50 for FHVs and $1.25 for taxis, and not implement the surcharge for a year.
At bridges and tunnels connecting New York and New Jersey, cash payers will pay $1 more beginning in January, E-ZPass discounts will be trimmed by 25 cents and carpool discounts will be eliminated. Bus tolls will rise $1, the first of five scheduled increases. For Staten Island residents, the discount bridge toll rate will rise about 60 cents, to $6.88.
PATH rail riders won’t see their $2.75 single-ride cost increase, but the 10-, 20- and 40-trip discount price of $2.10 will rise to $2.50 on November 1 and to $2.60 a year later. The air trains to JFK and Newark airports would rise from $5.00 at JFK and $5.50 at Newark to $7.75 at both.
Among the major projects being funded are multibillion-dollar terminal upgrades of LaGuardia, JFK and Newark Liberty airports, a new AirTrain serving LaGuardia and a new monorail at Newark, and a planned replacement of the outdated, nearly 70-year-old Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York.
Source:Crain’s New York Business
