Reps. Grimm & Meeks Introduce Bill to Protect Toll Discounts for Residents
March 7, 2011WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Representatives Michael Grimm (R-SI/Brooklyn) and Gregory Meeks (D-Queens) introduced legislation to protect the toll discount program to residents. The Residential and Commuter Toll Fairness Act of 2011 (H.R. 897 ) would allow state and municipal governments to offer discounted rates to residents for trips taken on roads, bridges, rail, bus, ferry, or other transportation systems. This legislation is in response to a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on the case of Selevan v. New York Thruway Authority, which ruled that that toll discounts for New York residents of towns bordering the New York Thruway are unconstitutional.
“The simple truth is that Staten Islanders pay exorbitant tolls to subsidize mass transit for other parts of our region,” said
Rep. Grimm. “We face the longest commutes in the nation and we receive little transit assistance for carrying that toll burden. Staten Islanders are the only New York City residents who have no subway access to the rest of the city and must rely on toll roads to drive off the Island. While we will continue to pay a disproportionate share of the region's toll burdens these discounts offer fair and reasonable relief to residents who have been failed by our region's transportation authorities. This legislation, with bipartisan support, will ensure that absolutely, essential relief continues.”
“By the very fact that residents of the Rockaway Community pay a toll, in my opinion is unfair and unjust because they pay the only intra-borough toll in the nation,” said Rep. Meeks. “They are in the same borough, many on the same community board, the same school district, the same police precinct and the same zip code. To take away the discount they currently receive would be a further injustice. This bill will preserve that discount and at least ease some of the pain that residents have just because they live in the Rockaway Peninsula.”
"Between our four bridges, Staten Island collects nearly 6% of all tolls in the United States. Due to our limited transportation alternatives, traveling off-island would be prohibitively expensive without federal legislation to protect our resident discount. The Chamber of Commerce applauds Congressman Grimm for taking action on this critical issue," said Linda Baran, President and CEO of the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce.
Transportation toll discount programs that are based on residential status do not discriminate against those individuals who do not receive these discounts, but instead address actual unequal and undue financial burdens placed on residents of certain jurisdictions that have no other way of accessing those areas other than through a means that requires them to pay a toll. The Residential and Commuter Toll Fairness Act of 2011 provides clarification of the existing authority of local governments to issue or grant transportation toll, user fee or fare discount programs based on residential status. It also provides Congressional authorization for discount programs.
The costs add up for residents paying tolls on a daily basis, especially for New Yorkers who pay the highest tolls in the country. This legislation would protect the current discount programs offered to residents traveling across the Verrazano-Narrows, Cross Bay, Goethals, and Bayonne Bridges and the Outerbridge Crossing. Residents across the country benefit from the financial relief provided by residential discount programs. It will allow the current policies to continue, as well as provide the opportunity for new residential discount programs to be created.
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