Senate Bill S726A

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S726A

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend chapter 154 of the laws of 1921 relating to the port
of New York authority, in relation to the imposition of tolls for
certain bridges and tunnels

 PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL :

This legislation amends the Public Authorities Law by prohibiting an
increase in the toll charge and fares on all bridges, tunnels and
trans-it authorities operated by the Authority unless the increases
are utilized for transportation related programs and improvements.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 of the bill amends chapter 154 of the laws of 1921 relating
to the port of New York authority, by adding a new section 1-a which
states that no toll may be increased over an authority bridge or
tunnel after December 1, 2017, unless the increase is utilized solely
for the improvement, reconstruction or maintenance of the authority's
transportation relation facilities.

Section 2 provides that the act will take effect upon the enactment
into law by the state of New Jersey of legislation having an identical
              

effect with this act, but if the state of New Jersey has already
enacted such legislation, this at shall take effect immediately.

 JUSTIFICATION :

On August 19, 2011, the Port Authority Board of Commissioners, with
the approval of the Governors of New York and New Jersey adopted a
toll increase of $1.50 in September 2011 and 75 cents per year, every
year thereafter, from 2012-2015 for E-ZPass holders. An additional $2
penalty on top of increased tolls was implemented for cash toll
payers. These toll increases will bring the rush-hour cash tolls to
$15 by 2015. While the Authority failed to publicly disclose a
detailed Capital Expenditure Plan, it has issued press releases
stating that substantial toll increases are needed because of its
escalating real estate development expenses at the World Trade Center.

These unprecedented toll hikes, and diversion of toll revenue to
non-transportation projects come at a time when our region's roads and
bridges are deteriorating. In fact, every bridge owned and operated by
the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is rated as
"functionally obsolete" by the Federal Highway Administration.

Accordingly, this legislation intends to ensure that tolls on the
busiest interstate facilities in the Northeast corridor are not
diverted to unrelated and speculative real estate projects. Indeed,
the federal Bridge Act requires bridge tolls to be "just and
reasonable" (33 U.S.C. § 508) and the federal courts have consistently
interpreted that to require that increases to interstate tolls be used
only for facilities that have functional relationships to those
bridges. See (AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF NEW YORK. INC. V PORT AUTHORITY OF
NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY), 887 F.2d 417 (2d Cir. 1989).

Consequently, this legislation, by codifying the 1989 decision of the
Federal Court of Appeals, will ensure that the Authority maintains its
core mission of reconstructing and improving critical infrastructure
rather than forcing travelers using interstate bridges and tunnels to
pay exorbitant and unreasonable toll rates to subsidize costly and
speculative office redevelopment projects.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :
2011-12: S.6011

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS :

To be determined.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act will take effect upon the enactment into law by the state of
New Jersey of legislation having an identical effect with this act,
but if the state of New Jersey has already enacted such legislation,
this act shall take effect immediately.