Port Authority Toll Hikes Necessary, Audit Says

Toll increases set last year by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey are necessary if it is to maintain aging facilities and pay for planned capital projects, according to an independent audit, the Associated Press reported.

The report was released a year after controversial toll hikes went into effect on the George Washington Bridge and the Lincoln and Holland tunnels into New York City that would more than double the cost of the crossings by 2015, AP said.

The report said the authority faces “enormous challenges” over the next decade, from completing redevelopment of the new World Trade Center site to the $1.2 billion raising of the Bayonne Bridge to $6.5 billion in improvements at New York’s three major airports, AP reported. 

Not enacting the toll increases would result in deferring, delaying or canceling projects altogether, the report said.

Trucking executives earlier this year warned about the “onerous costs” to the trucking industry of soaring toll costs.