Schumer Reintroduces Legislation Protecting Staten Island's Residential Toll Discounts on Verrazano, Outerbridge, Bayonne, and Goethals Bridges

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced he is reintroducing legislation protecting the residential discount programs for Staten Island residents on the Verrazano-Narrows, Goethals, and Bayonne Bridges and the Outerbridge Crossing. The Residential and Commuter Toll Fairness Act of 2011 provides express Congressional authorization for local governments to issue or grant transportation toll, user fee or fare discount programs based on residential status. The legislation, which was originally introduced in 2009 and passed the House by a unanimous vote, came in response to a court case challenging toll discounts in upstate New York. Last week, a judge in Rhode Island announced he would issue a written ruling on a case that could strike down a similar toll discount program. As the number of cases continues to grow, Schumer said the legislation is more necessary than ever to ward off similar suits that could invalidate the toll discount programs on Staten Island.

"Staten Islanders already have the longest commutes in America, and without residential toll discounts, they would face the most expensive commutes as well," Schumer said. "With no other way to drive off the Island except via bridges with sky-high tolls, Staten Islanders deserve a break, and through this legislation we can guarantee that these fair and essential residential discount programs will hold up in court."

Many residents across the country are forced to pay tolls to access certain highways, bridges, rails, buses, ferries, and other transportation systems. The revenue generated from these tolls is used to support infrastructure maintenance and improvement projects that not only benefit the users of the transportation systems, but the regional and national systems as well. But certain commuters, such as those who live on islands and peninsulas, are forced to endure significant toll burdens when compared with commuters who have numerous travel options.

Residents of Staten Island have limited options to leave the island. The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge costs travelers $13 and is the highest toll in the United States, and the Goethals, Bayonne, and Outerbridge Crossing cost $8 each. Without the residential toll discount program, many Staten Islanders would be forced to deal with the severe financial burden of having to pay the higher tolls.

To address this inequality, and to reduce the significant financial hardship imposed on these commuters, many state and local governments have implemented programs to issue or grant discounted tolls, user fees, or fares to these residents, similar to the one on Staten Island that provides discounts of $5.28 for drivers who use tokens and $3.84 for drivers who use EZPass on the Verrazano bridge, and a $4 discount for drivers over the Goethals, Bayonne and Outerbridge Crossing bridges.

In court cases across the country, however, plaintiffs are alleging that the discount fare programs are unconstitutional. Last week, a judge in Rhode Island announced he would be ruling on a class-action suit accusing the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority of violating the constitution by giving Rhode Island residents who cross the Pell Bridge that connects to Newport and Jamestown with a toll discount. Schumer originally introduced his legislation in response to Selevan v. New York Thruway Authority, a case in the Second Circuit of the US Court of Appeals, that alleges that toll discounts for New York residents living in towns bordering the New York Thruway are unconstitutional.

Schumer noted that 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 communities that have no other way of accessing those communities 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.

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