What The Traffic Will Bear...

or, a screed on commuting through the Lincoln Tunnel. Just now, I left them this tirade on their Web site:

**This morning I spent the time between 7:15 AM and 9:50 AM travelling 25 miles to my office by bus. The Lincoln Tunnel, as usual, had cars piled upon cars trying to get into Manhattan.
This evening, I left the office at 6 PM and arrived home at approximately 8 PM, after being delayed because the buses couldn’t make it through the delays to get to the bus terminal at 41st Street because the Lincoln Tunnel, as usual, had cars piled upon cars trying to get into Manhattan.
Let’s examine your toll structure, keeping in mind that no freight train links exist into Manhattan, and that one of the principal charges of the Port Authority is to promote regional development.
We find that five-axle trucks, at the peak hours of rush hour, have to pay 30 bucks to use the tunnel. Off hours, this drops to 25 dollars, and should they forgo sleep and arrive overnight, they only have to fork over 17.50.
Meantime, that most wasteful road user, the commuter in his single passenger car, has to pay the great fortune of (drum roll please) five bucks during the rush hour, and 4 bucks otherwise. Let us keep in mind that this is a round-trip toll, since the toll barrier exists on the Jersey side only.
Now, if the Lincoln Tunnel were privately owned, the owner would charge what the traffic (pardon the pun) would bear. Given the current extremely overcrowded conditions during the rush hours at the tolls, a significant portion of which is made up of cars occupied by a SINGLE PASSENGER, we can safely assume that this is well to the north of the current charge of five bucks. As few eighteen wheelers can be seen attempting to use the tunnel during rush hour, it would appear that the steep charges they are being made to pay at those times is pretty much what their traffic can bear.
What this means is that Manhattan and beyond, with no freight rail links currently in existence, is effectively cut off from receiving freight from destinations west of the Hudson River at those times. Must be to promote economic development.
Perhaps this toll structure makes sense to someone. If so, I’d like that person to explain to me how the constant and persistent overcrowding during rush hour can happen when your web site features the following explanation for the fact that no discount exists for use of the EZ Pass during rush hour:

Q: Why is the “All Bridges Plan” discount program being eliminated? A: An underlying objective of the Port Authority’s toll pricing proposal is to ensure that prices reflect traffic management objectives that address traffic congestion. The commuter toll plans that are currently in place provide an economic incentive for people to drive at the times of heaviest demand and greatest traffic congestion by providing a price discount to frequent users. Simply stated, the current commuter toll discounts charge less to cross the bridges at the time when the roadway resource is most precious. The social cost of driving at these times is more traffic congestion, delays, and related costs. Given the relative availability of mass transit options at the trans-Hudson crossings, the new toll structure will create incentives to use E-ZPass at all times of day through its discounts, which will help improve overall traffic flow. The new toll rates will also create incentives to travel in off-peak hours, when the capacity of the crossings is not as limited.

Perhaps something stronger than the mere elimination of the discount is in order? Like charging what the traffic will bear? Note that the Triboro Bridge, operated by the Triboro Bridge and Tunnel Authority, charges $3.50 each way, or $7.00 total, 40% higher than the $5.00 you charge for use of the tunnel at the time when, as you yourselves so eloquently state, “the roadway resource is most precious.”
Those of us who use the mass transit options cited above would be most grateful for the drop in traffic that would occur if you realized the true value of the asset you own.**
I wrote the above & sent it off well after the above incidents occurred, when my blood had stopped boiling from having to waste so much time stuck in traffic for no other reason than that basic economics appears to be lost on the Port Authority.

Let me get this straight… You have to pay to use a road???:eek::eek::eek:

It is Manhattan, New York. You pay for everything, and quite a bit for it, too.

Esprix

Move the fuck away from that hell hole! Paying for going through a tunnel? I can see maybe 25 cents, but FIVE BUCKS? Geeze! It would be cheaper to buy a fuckin powered parachute and fly your ass to work.

Is it that much? Holy crap. The only time I spend five bucks for tolls is over several toll roads on the 400+ mile drive to my Mom’s from Stillwater to south Arkansas.

Here in beautiful Los Angeles, all roads are free to whoever wishes to use them. Of course, they are all backed up and resemble a parking lot…

NYC is some of the most densly packed, high-cost real estate on the planet. Everything costs more there, but the business production is un-fucking-believable, and if it’s for sale, you can find it somewhere in the City. I love the City, but I still wonder why private vehicles are used, or are even allowed, below 50th street during the day.

Oh it’s a bitch, that’s why I take Amtrak into the city. Ya might wanna try a non-vehicular method of transportation in the future. Fuck the tunnel, you’d be better off with the GW bridge eh. Eck, well I gotta go drive through D.C. traffic right now, see ya!

Pantom
Just be happy that you are not driving through the mess on Rt. 80 for the next 3 months.

We live in traffic hell. We deserve this:(

The toll is only in one direction. Think of it as a cover charge.

And pantom give the folks at TBTA some time. They only got permission recently to try this whole time-based thing for passenger cars. They might get better at it over time.

Manhattan, you did mean the Port Authority right?
Hopefully, they will - get better at it that is. Today I got reminded of what Friday afternoons are always like: the commuters who came in in the morning are trying to get out, the people who live in the city are also doing the same thing, trying to get to their weekend getaways, and yet other people from outside the city are trying to get in to go to Broadway or whatever other divertissement they have planned. Result is a total mess, and it always takes me forever to get home.
Freedom, my wife told me about Rt 80. What a disaster!