California Construction Trucking Association (CCTA)

The Trucker Staff 12/20/2011

WASHINGTON — Noting recent toll hikes that they called a lack of accountability and fiscal mismanagement at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., and Rep. Michael Grimm, R-.N.Y., have introduced legislation that would restore the Department of Transportation’s ability to determine whether toll hikes are fair to drivers and to give the Department authority to prescribe more reasonable tolls.

Lautenberg, who chairs the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Surface Transportation that has jurisdiction over interstate transportation policy issues, said, “When it costs $12 to drive your car across a bridge in America, something is wrong.  While the Port Authority and the two states are struggling to explain why these dramatic hikes were imposed, commuters are suffering.  There’s a clear need for federal oversight here to make sure toll revenue is being used appropriately and not going to fund excessive salaries or political patronage jobs.   Given these out of control toll hikes and the cloud of misinformation surrounding them, these federal protections for commuters need to be restored.”

Tolls are even higher for commercial vehicles.

The legislation, named the Commuter Protection Act would restore DOT’s ability to determine whether tolls on bridges and tunnels imposed by toll authorities are "just and reasonable."

Up until 1987, the DOT had the authority to determine whether any tolls charged to drivers were "just and reasonable" upon a complaint.  Under the proposed legislation, if the tolls were deemed unfair, the secretary of transportation could prescribe a more reasonable maximum toll that could be charged.

The bill would also require Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report on and make recommendations for increasing the transparency and accountability of tolling authority budget practices.

On Aug. 19 the Port Authority approved an increase in toll hikes that will raise tolls for cars between New Jersey and New York from $8 to $15 by 2015.  For cars with E-Z Pass, the toll will be raised from $8 to $12.50 over the same period of time. Five-axle trucks that currently pay $40 dollars will have to pay up to $105 by 2015.

The legislation has already drawn support from AAA New York, and AAA Clubs of New Jersey, the American Trucking Associations, the American Highway Users Alliance, the American Motorcyclist Association the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and the California Construction Trucking Association. 

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