East River Freebie Bridges

BRIDGES DESIGN AND ENGINEERING magazine (Q1 2000) had a nice feature on New York’s crossings, tolled and untolled. But Bojidar Yanev New York City’s bridges chief said: “I don’t believe tolls should be placed on our bridges. In the case of the four East River bridges it means they would be taken out of the system, and that would mean no capital funding from FHWA. Maintenance is an expense item funded by local taxes. The city remains committed to its no-tolls policy but it has sought dedicated funding for bridge maintenance.” (p31)

Now there’s a true bureaucrat speaking. Tolls would take the bridges “out of the system” of the city budget’s support for salaries and out of the system of FHWA grants for capital. However Yanev tells us the city wants a “dedicated funding source,” which surely would take it out of “the system.” Now the only dedicated funding source for bridges that relates sensibly to their need is a toll. Guess these matters are decided above Yanev’s level.