Bridge Tolls
Advocacy Project

New Report Extols Tolls

Transportation Alternatives and the Straphangers Campaign have released a new report that corroborates BTAP's finding that bridge tolls will ease traffic congestion in the crowded East River corridor, saving motorists time now lost in gridlock.

BTAP's July, 2003 report, The Hours, found that bridge tolls will save drivers, passengers and truckers 100,000 hours a day by thinning the traffic stream and boosting travel speeds. The new report, by Schaller Consulting, estimates traffic reductions on specific streets in downtown Brooklyn (Hicks, Smith, Clinton and Court Streets) and Long Island City (Thomson Ave., 21st Street, Queens Blvd.).

The two reports aren't fully comparable. Whereas The Hours incorporated an estimate of new trips resulting from thinning the thinning stream, the Schaller report didn't include a "bounceback" effect.

Links:

• Newsday article on the Schaller report
• Transportation Alternatives press release (with link to PDF copy of the Schaller report)
• Details on BTAP's The Hours