Tolls at road meets - thoughts?

[PHLBOS]

NYSTA has indeed charged me the discounted toll rate for the Tappan Zee Bridge on my PA Turnpike-issued EZ-Pass.  Does the PANYNJ and/or MTA offer discounted tolls rates for EZ-Pass users from other states (outside of NJ)?

[Duke87]

MTA definitely does not. Not sure about PANYNJ.

[JMoses24]

If a toll were in play for a meet I was attending as a guest, I said $10-12 (and this is presuming I'm just chipping in), but really, I doubt you're going to see many places where that much money is spent on tolls. That's like $48 per car. 

Hosting? That depends on the expected toll amount and other factors. Let's say for the sake of the question that the expected toll is $10 for each car, and there are 3 carloads. I can cover that for my carload and even help the other vehicles in the fleet, no problem and I wouldn't quibble either way. If I hosted one in a city where there were a LOT of tolls and they were pretty significant, then it becomes a case of "I need help to do this effectively". For now at least, there are no mandated tolls in Cincinnati. Replacing the Brent Spence Bridge is expected to change this, as the current plans call for tolls. The studies are in progress at this time to determine how this will best be done.

[dgolub]

I think for me amount is far less important than purpose. If avoiding the toll takes more time than it's worth, paying the toll is preferable.

Yeah, don't try to get back into New York from New Jersey without paying any tolls--you'll have to 300-mile detour through Albany, a good part of it on local roads.  On the other hand, if you're going from Manhattan to the Bronx, the Willis Avenue Bridge is great.

[PHLBOS]

MTA definitely does not. Not sure about PANYNJ.

That sucks regarding MTA; that means one has to pay the extortion toll rate of $15 if using the Verrazano to Staten Island; the EZ-Pass toll is $10.66. 

Man, times have changed.  Back in 2000, the toll on the VZ was $7 w/an EZ-Pass rate of $3.50.  Seeing that toll rate difference was what prompted me to sign up for EZ-Pass; this was before agencies started imposing an annual fee even if one applied for automatic replenishment most discounts applied to all EZ-Pass users regardless of which agency their accounts were from.

MTA car toll rate info:

http://web.mta.info/bandt/traffic/btmain.html#cars

PANYNJ tolls rates for cars:

http://www.panynj.gov/bridges-tunnels/tolls.html

If a toll were in play for a meet I was attending as a guest, I said $10-12 (and this is presuming I'm just chipping in), but really, I doubt you're going to see many places where that much money is spent on tolls. That's like $48 per car.

With all due respect, you've clearly never been to the northeast if not NYC.  See further up this post and web-links for current toll rates.

If a meet itinerary involves using several of the river crossings all in one day; a $48 per car rate is not completely out of line.

[vdeane]

If a toll were in play for a meet I was attending as a guest, I said $10-12 (and this is presuming I'm just chipping in), but really, I doubt you're going to see many places where that much money is spent on tolls. That's like $48 per car. 

Actually, $48 per car could easily be on the low end.  I'd wager that tolls on the NYC bridges/tunnels are the second highest in North America, right after the Confederation Bridge in Canada.  The Verrazano alone is $15.

[JMoses24]

MTA definitely does not. Not sure about PANYNJ.

That sucks regarding MTA; that means one has to pay the extortion toll rate of $15 if using the Verrazano to Staten Island; the EZ-Pass toll is $10.66. 

Man, times have changed.  Back in 2000, the toll on the VZ was $7 w/an EZ-Pass rate of $3.50.  Seeing that toll rate difference was what prompted me to sign up for EZ-Pass; this was before agencies started imposing an annual fee even if one applied for automatic replenishment most discoutns applied to all EZ-Pass users regardless of which agency their accounts were from.

MTA car toll rate info:

http://web.mta.info/bandt/traffic/btmain.html#cars

PANYNJ tolls rates for cars:

http://www.panynj.gov/bridges-tunnels/tolls.html

If a toll were in play for a meet I was attending as a guest, I said $10-12 (and this is presuming I'm just chipping in), but really, I doubt you're going to see many places where that much money is spent on tolls. That's like $48 per car.

With all due respect, you've clearly never been to the northeast if not NYC.  See further up this post and web-links for current toll rates.

If a meet itinerary involves using several of the river crossings all in one day; a $48 per car rate is not completely out of line.

I didn't say there were no places like that. I DID say "I doubt you'll see many". NYC is certainly one, and Chicago could qualify, but I struggle to think of others.

[vdeane]

I didn't say there were no places like that. I DID say "I doubt you'll see many". NYC is certainly one, and Chicago could qualify, but I struggle to think of others.

Well, this thread was started concerning the NYC meet next year.  We've had meets before in places with the typical toll amount, and the solution at these times was to either have drivers eat the cost (happened in NJ meets where the turnpike/parkway was part of the tour) or to avoid the toll road altogether.  Shunpiking is a tradition in NJ meets (unless the toll road itself is part of the tour), for example.

[Alps]

I didn't say there were no places like that. I DID say "I doubt you'll see many". NYC is certainly one, and Chicago could qualify, but I struggle to think of others.

Well, this thread was started concerning the NYC meet next year.  We've had meets before in places with the typical toll amount, and the solution at these times was to either have drivers eat the cost (happened in NJ meets where the turnpike/parkway was part of the tour) or to avoid the toll road altogether.  Shunpiking is a tradition in NJ meets (unless the toll road itself is part of the tour), for example.

I dispute the latter part of your statement. We had one exit on the Parkway at my Central NJ meet, and though I gave a shunpike alternate route, I don't think anyone followed it. Hardly a tradition, especially given the lack of NJ meets so far, and I don't know of a second one. (Keep in mind that the Delaware River meets are exploring the interesting bridges, which happen to be untolled.)

[JMoses24]

I didn't say there were no places like that. I DID say "I doubt you'll see many". NYC is certainly one, and Chicago could qualify, but I struggle to think of others.

Well, this thread was started concerning the NYC meet next year.  We've had meets before in places with the typical toll amount, and the solution at these times was to either have drivers eat the cost (happened in NJ meets where the turnpike/parkway was part of the tour) or to avoid the toll road altogether.  Shunpiking is a tradition in NJ meets (unless the toll road itself is part of the tour), for example.

Right. My point is, I can't come up with MANY areas where tolls might amount to that $48/car total. NYC and Chicago are the two that come to mind with all the toll roads in and near those cities. By the way, I have actually been to NYC, though it was in 2002, we didn't cross the Verrazano but the Lincoln Tunnel, and then we exited via (if I recall correctly) the Manhattan Bridge to I-278 to I-87 North to the Thruway so we could get to Niagara Falls. 

[Brandon]

I didn't say there were no places like that. I DID say "I doubt you'll see many". NYC is certainly one, and Chicago could qualify, but I struggle to think of others.

Well, this thread was started concerning the NYC meet next year.  We've had meets before in places with the typical toll amount, and the solution at these times was to either have drivers eat the cost (happened in NJ meets where the turnpike/parkway was part of the tour) or to avoid the toll road altogether.  Shunpiking is a tradition in NJ meets (unless the toll road itself is part of the tour), for example.

Right. My point is, I can't come up with MANY areas where tolls might amount to that $48/car total. NYC and Chicago are the two that come to mind with all the toll roads in and near those cities. By the way, I have actually been to NYC, though it was in 2002, we didn't cross the Verrazano but the Lincoln Tunnel, and then we exited via (if I recall correctly) the Manhattan Bridge to I-278 to I-87 North to the Thruway so we could get to Niagara Falls. 

You'll never really get close to a $48/car total around Chicago for tolls unless you go really nuts driving every tollway and the Skyway without an I-Pass (EZ-Pass).  And that would be way too much driving for a road meet.

[PHLBOS]

By the way, I have actually been to NYC, though it was in 2002

And the tolls back then were about/at least half of what they are now.

[Alps]

By the way, I have actually been to NYC, though it was in 2002

And the tolls back then were about/at least half of what they are now.

When I started driving, it had gone up from $6 to $8. We're at $13 now.

[Duke87]

I remember the PANYNJ tolls being $4 back in the 1990s.
Of course, that was before they needed money to cover the massive cost overruns for rebuilding the World Trade Center.

I remember the MTA tolls being $2 each way.
And likewise, that was before they needed money to pay service on all the debt they took on back in the 90s, cover labor and construction costs which have risen faster than inflation, and all the while face shrinking revenue from the state because Albany keeps raiding their funds.

[PHLBOS]

I remember shelling out $7 for the one-way cash toll (Staten Island-bound) on the Verrazano (an MTA facility) in early Nov. 2000.

[dgolub]

I remember shelling out $7 for the one-way cash toll (Staten Island-bound) on the Verrazano (an MTA facility) in early Nov. 2000.

And it's more than double that now.

[mtantillo]

I would be willing to request a couple more MTA transponders from my NY account if needed for the meet (I purchased an MTA tag from a cash toll lane on an MTA crossing, and once your account is registered to MTA, all future tags issued will be MTA ones).