Crossing fee will reach $2.15 by 2023
The board of commissioners of the New York State Bridge Authority at its December meeting unanimously approved raising tolls on the five Hudson Valley bridges it controls.
The 40-cent increase in the EZPass rate from $1.25 to $1.65 will be phased in over four years, the authority said, and the proceeds will help finance repairs of the Bear Mountain and Rip Van Winkle bridges, replacement of the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge’s north span deck and painting and paving projects, as well as the transition to all-electronic tolling.
The cash rate for each crossing will reach $2.15 in 2023, the authority said, which it said “will still be lower in inflation-adjusted dollars than tolls were when the authority began in the 1930s.” The first incremental increase in rates will take place on May 1.
The authority receives no tax funding; 97 percent of its money is from tolls and the other 3 percent from advertising, investments and other sources, it said.
As much as I don’t like toll increases, I applaud the bridge authority’s ability to keep cost down unlike other entities around our state. Great financial planning and spending!
The Bear Mountain Bridge right how is $1.50, so wouldn’t a 40-cent increase be $1.90?
Sorry, the story has been updated to make it clearer. The EZPass rate will rise 10 cents per year over four years from $1.25 to $1.65 and the cash rate will rise from $1.50 to $2.15.