Tappan Zee Congos

CONGESTION PRICING

Tappan Zee congos

From July 18 the Tappan Zee bridge (TZB) over the Hudson River in New York will charge trucks $20 tolls in morning rush hours compared to $10 other times in the first application of congestion pricing on the US east coast. Southern California was the US pioneer of time-variable pricing, which was first introduced by French toll road companies.

The TZB is about 35km north of Times Square at Tarrytown and is the second bridge over the Hudson river (after the Geo Washington) and carries both north-south traffic of the New York State Thruway (I-87) and east-west traffic (I-287). Since the completion of I-287 down the western side of northern New Jersey the TZB has become a major way of skirting the western and northern fringes of the greater NY-NJ metro area. Of steel truss construction the 5km long 7-lane bridge is run by the state Thruway authority. It has a moveable central median barrier to provide for peak flows south and east in the morning, and the reverse. With an average daily vehicle count of about 120,000 it just pips the Lincoln Tunnel and the Bronx-Whitestone bridge to be the third most heavily trafficked toll crossing in the New York area (after the GeoWash 240k, Verrazano 180k).

Political package: The congestion pricing plan for trucks was announced by the state governor George Pataki as part of a political package designed to assuage traffic and toll grievances of voters in Rockland county on the west bank. A toll plaza on the Thruway at Spring Valley about 14km west of the TZB will have its 40c tolls abolished for passenger vehicles from this summer, Pataki said. Commuters using the TZB with E-ZPass e-tags will make the round trip for the bargain price of $1, compared to the $1.80 they pay now for the one-way toll on the bridge and the two 40c tolls at the Spring Valley Plaza. The cash toll on the TZB however will be $3, hitting occasional users hard but encouraging the acquisition of e-tags by all the regulars.

Trucks presently pay $1.50 both ways at Spring Valley plaza but under the new plan they will pay one way only (west and northbound) and again congo pricing will prevail — $6 in the evening rush hour and $3 outside it. Buses are going free to encourage transit.

The old complaint of the tolls encouraging diversion onto parallel local roads was a major political issue in Rockland Co and Pataki said that the elimination of the car toll at Spring Valley will discourage detours onto the parallel free arterial SR-59. The whole package is supposed to be revenue-neutral.

E-ZPass for CVs: In other news the Thruway is extending E-ZPass e-tags to commercial customers and has ceased to issue new commercial charge cards. Existing charge cards will be withdrawn from the end of the year to go all e-toll for 300,000 commercial customers. Also the Thruway Authority is studying how to convert the Spring Valley into its first highway speed, free flow e-toll facility, abolishing all the manual collection booths. (Contact NYSTA 518 436 2983)