Senate Bill S6191

                                BILL NUMBER:S6191

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the administrative code of the city of
New York, in relation to the tolling of bridges controlled or operated
by the city of New York

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:  The purpose of the bill is to
prohibit the city of New York from placing tolls on any of the East
River bridges.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill amends Title 19 of the administrative code of
the city of New York by adding a new chapter 8 that will state "No
tolls or other charges shall be imposed for vehicular or pedestrian
traffic for the use of any bridge controlled or operated by the city".

Section 2 of the bill sets forth an immediate effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:  The city of New York currently controls or operates
what are collectively referred to as the East River Bridges, which
include the Willis Avenue, Third Avenue, Ed Koch Queensborough,
Williamsburg, Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges.

Despite the financial difficulties facing the city of New York, the
imposition of tolls on the East River Bridges is not a revenue
              

generating option that New York city residents should be forced to
endure.

Imposition of these tolls would place an unfair burden upon residents
from Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan who would be forced to
pay to travel between the Boroughs. Given the tremendous rise in cost
of living expenses as a result of years of financial crisis on both a
national and local level, as well as ever increasing bus and subway
fare hikes, city residents are in no position to face another huge
increase in their daily living expenses. In addition, small businesses
in the Boroughs outside of Manhattan who are already struggling with
shrinking profit margins will not be able to absorb the massive
increases in their business expenses as a result of such tolls.

Assuming such tolls would be implemented under a "cashless"
/"all-electronic" tolling system similar to what the Metropolitan
Transportation Association ("MTA") implemented on the Henry Hudson
Bridge, such systems have yet to be proven cost effective. Drivers
with EZ-Pass would pay immediately but those without would be billed
by the city. It is unclear what the success rate is for collection of
tolls from non-EZ-Pass holders and what collection costs are incurred
by the MTA in relation to enforcing a "cashless" system. In addition,
there are also the privacy concerns raised by many who feel that such
systems are an unwarranted invasion of privacy to have their movements
tracked by tolling cameras that are interfaced with the Department of
Motor Vehicles and whose information would be maintained by the city
and could be provided to collection agencies.

Overall, it is the responsibility of leaders of the city to find ways
of increasing revenues without continually placing that fiscal burden
upon residents and small businesses.


PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: New Bill.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:, This act shall take effect immediately.