New NYC bridge toll rate?

[02 Park Ave]

Is there a rate increase of the tolls on the bridges within NYC forthcoming this weekend?  If there is to be, what would be the amount?

[cl94]

Yes, there is.

For cars:

Verrazano: $16 cash, $11.08 E-ZPass
Triboro, Whitestone, Throgs Neck, Brooklyn-Battery, Queens Midtown: $8.00 cash, $5.54 E-ZPass
Henry Hudson: $5.50 by mail, $2.54 E-ZPass
Rockaway crossings: $3.25 cash, $1.73 E-ZPass

[roadman]

Why the oddball amounts ($11.08, $5.54, $2.54, and $1.73) for EZ-Pass?  Reminds me of an old Dudley Do-Right routine:

Dudley - "How much do we have to pay you in order to buy back the post?

Sindley Whiplash - "Three million dollars and forty eight cents."

Dudley -  "Huum.  That forty eight cents is going to be tough."

[Brandon]

^^ It is a bit strange.  ISTHA merely charges half the cash toll for I-Pass (EZ-Pass).  For example, the Triboro Bridge would be $4.00 for EZ-Pass with ISTHA, not an oddball $5.54.

[PHLBOS]

The PA Tunrpike E-Z Pass toll rates (that applies for all tags regardless of which agency the account is based from BTW) are also at oddball amounts.

The reason for such might be do with the price differential (cash/mail vs. E-Z Pass) being based on a percentage discount with minimal rounding.

[cl94]

The PA Tunrpike E-Z Pass toll rates (that applies for all tags regardless of which agency the account is based from BTW) are also at oddball amounts.

The reason for such might be do with the price differential (cash/mail vs. E-Z Pass) being based on a percentage discount with minimal rounding.

It is a percentage. E-ZPass tolls went up by 4% while cash tolls went up 6.7-10% while remaining round. Price differential increase is to encourage more E-ZPass use to reduce congestion.

[roadman]

The PA Tunrpike E-Z Pass toll rates (that applies for all tags regardless of which agency the account is based from BTW) are also at oddball amounts.

The reason for such might be do with the price differential (cash/mail vs. E-Z Pass) being based on a percentage discount with minimal rounding.

It is a percentage. E-ZPass tolls went up by 4% while cash tolls went up 6.7-10% while remaining round. Price differential increase is to encourage more E-ZPass use to reduce congestion.

Totally agree with the rationale for the price differential between EZ-Pass and cash/pay by mail.  What is screwy to me is why NYC is not rounding the EZ-Pass amounts to the nearest nickle.

[cl94]

The PA Tunrpike E-Z Pass toll rates (that applies for all tags regardless of which agency the account is based from BTW) are also at oddball amounts.

The reason for such might be do with the price differential (cash/mail vs. E-Z Pass) being based on a percentage discount with minimal rounding.

It is a percentage. E-ZPass tolls went up by 4% while cash tolls went up 6.7-10% while remaining round. Price differential increase is to encourage more E-ZPass use to reduce congestion.

Totally agree with the rationale for the price differential between EZ-Pass and cash/pay by mail.  What is screwy to me is why NYC is not rounding the EZ-Pass amounts to the nearest nickle.

Don't tempt them. They'd round up. Plus, there's really no reason to if it's all-electronic.

[Mergingtraffic]

forget the rounding...that doesn't bother me...what does is where does ALL this money go?

[vdeane]

forget the rounding...that doesn't bother me...what does is where does ALL this money go?

The MTA's transit operations.

[Duke87]

For most agencies EZpass discounts are either a flat amount or set percentage compared to the cash toll. The MTA meanwhile has for a while been letting their EZpass tolls track independently of the cash tolls. So, to see where the numbers come from you have to follow the whole history. Earlier hikes were in relatively round number amounts but starting in 2009 they were instead determined as a set percentage increase. Which results in seemingly weird numbers due to the compounding.

Beginning 1996: $3.50 cash, $3.00 EZpass
Beginning 2003: $4.00 cash, $3.50 EZpass - 50 cent increase
Beginning 2005: $4.50 cash, $4.00 EZpass - 50 cent increase
Beginning 2008: $5.00 cash, $4.15 EZpass - 15 cent increase
Beginning 2009: $5.50 cash, $4.57 EZpass - 10% increase
Beginning 2011: $6.50 cash, $4.80 EZpass - 5% increase
Beginning 2013: $7.50 cash, $5.33 EZpass - 11% increase
Beginning 2015: $8.00 cash, $5.54 EZpass - 4% increase

Of course each time the cash toll goes up more than the EZpass toll, so the discount gets bigger every time both in terms of absolute dollars and in terms of percentage. In 2005 your NY issued EZpass got you a roughly 11% discount. It's now more than 30%.

[ixnay]

Is there a reliable website giving the history of tolls on the MTA and PANYNJ crossings?

ixnay
(veteran of Lincoln, Holland, and QMT passages and Outerbridge, GWB, and VZB crossings [but only once, plus the return trip, at the wheel, through the Lincoln in 1984])

[xcellntbuy]

Those toll rates are a far cry from the days when I could take a ride down to New York and pay all the bridge and tunnel tolls in cash with one roll of quarters.

[Duke87]

Is there a reliable website giving the history of tolls on the MTA and PANYNJ crossings?

Page 16 of this PDF has the cash toll rates for TBTA crossings going back to 1971. EZpass tolls for the standard rate crossings are on page 17.

[sbeaver44]

The PA Tunrpike E-Z Pass toll rates (that applies for all tags regardless of which agency the account is based from BTW) are also at oddball amounts.

I wish all E-Z Pass entities would do this, because I have a PA Turnpike issued E-Z Pass, and New York only gives discounts on the MTA bridges to New York customers last time I checked.  $7.50 Cash/Out of State E-Z Pass or $5.33 New York E-Z Pass I think was the spread last time I used the Throgs Neck.  At least the PANYNJ gives me the discount.

I especially love the Indiana and Illinois discounts, even though I have a PA tag.  You're right about the gap widening over time too, the PA turnpike is up to nearly 35% differential.  I can't imagine paying the cash rates.

On that note, other than the MTA, are there any E-Z Pass jurisdictions that don't give E-Z Pass discounts (if such a discount exists) to everyone? 

[vdeane]

A ton.  Maine stands out in particular for using a virtual ticket system for their E-ZPass holders but a barrier/ramp system for everyone else, including out of state tags.

[1995hoo]

....

On that note, other than the MTA, are there any E-Z Pass jurisdictions that don't give E-Z Pass discounts (if such a discount exists) to everyone? 

The guy who is the expert on this sort of thing is mtantillo. He's said he has three different E-ZPasses from different issuers to maximize his discounts.

As far as I know, there are the following:

–Delaware (I believe you have to register for the commuter plan to get the discount and they don't allow out-of-staters to register)
–Maine Turnpike, as vdeane noted; I believe their discount also factors in number of trips per month
–Maryland (I can confirm out-of-staters pay the cash rate because I was charged the full $6.00 at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge this past Saturday)
–New Hampshire
–New Jersey
–New York (my understanding is none of the New York agencies give discounts to out-of-state transponders, but they do respect each other's discounts, so an E-ZPass issued by the TBTA gets the discount on the Thruway.....vdeane or mtantillo can correct me if that's wrong)
–Rhode Island
–West Virginia

A similar slight wrinkle occurs on the HO/T lanes in Miami. While SunPass is required, in order to get the free ride as an HOV you have to register as a carpool, and they don't let people with out-of-state plates register even if they live in the Miami area for several months a year. (Technically there are no SunPasses issued outside of Florida, but both versions of the North Carolina QuickPass–sticker or hard case–are compatible with SunPass. I do not know whether a Florida resident who gets a QuickPass hard case transponder, which is the only version that works at E-ZPass facilities, would be allowed to register as a carpool for the HO/T lanes, but I doubt it.)

[roadman]

On that note, other than the MTA, are there any E-Z Pass jurisdictions that don't give E-Z Pass discounts (if such a discount exists) to everyone? 

Most states with EZ-Pass give discounts only to those transponder holders who have accounts in that state.  I originally had an account with New Hampshire, so I'd get a discount at NH tolls, but not on other roads like MA Pike, NY Thruway, or PA Pike.

[bzakharin]

I think New Jersey respects out of state tags issued by places commonly commutable  from NJ. At the very least anything from DRPA, DRBA, and NYNJ Port Authority. Not sure about MTA or PTC. Only the Atlantic City Expressway requires the tag to be issued by New Jersey.

[cl94]

PTC and the Ohio Turnpike give discounts to out of state holders.

In New York, all E-ZPasses are issued out of the same service center and discounts are available to ONLY New York and Port Authority tags. The only thing that distinguishes NYSTA, TBTA, NYSBA, and PANYNJ E-ZPasses are the logo and the $1/month fee for Port Authority accounts. Peace Bridge and the Niagara Falls bridges do accounts through NYSTA.

[Pete from Boston]

Mine is from NYSTA.  Mass charged for theirs at the time, and the savings on steep tolls in NY is hard to match with Mass Pike trips.

[02 Park Ave]

The Indiana East-West Toll Road and the Illinois Tollways give discounts to out of stat holders.

[Duke87]

I think New Jersey respects out of state tags issued by places commonly commutable  from NJ. At the very least anything from DRPA, DRBA, and NYNJ Port Authority. Not sure about MTA or PTC. Only the Atlantic City Expressway requires the tag to be issued by New Jersey.

The turnpike and parkway only give discounts to NJ tags, and only during "off-peak" hours. A tag registered with the NY service center does not count as an NJ tag.

New Jersey, like New York, has one central system for keeping track of all in-state EZpasses, so who the issuing agency is does not matter so long as it is through that system.