Senate Bill Would Restore Federal Oversight for Bridge, Tunnel Toll Prices Nationwide

Tolls on bridges and tunnels would be subject to federal oversight under legislation introduced in Congress during December.

The bill, known as the Commuter Protection Act, was sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.). It would require tolls to be “just and reasonable,” as determined by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The legislation would restore the authority DOT had prior to a 1987 law that stripped away its oversight of tolls on federally funded highways.

“When it costs $12 to drive your car across a bridge in America, something is wrong,” Lautenberg said in a Dec. 16 statement announcing the bill.

Rep. Michael Grimm (R), who represents the New York City borough of Staten Island, introduced the legislation in the House of Representatives.

Since the 1987 law stripping DOT of its power over tolls, “states have found a lot more freedom in using toll revenue for different purposes than the original intent,” a member of Grimm’s legislative staff told Transport Topics.

Lautenberg said the bill is in response to a plan by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to increase tolls on the bridges and tunnels between New York City and New Jersey. The first round of increases came in September, and trucks will face a toll increase of as much as 143% over the early 2011 levels by the time the plan is fully implemented in 2015 (8-29, p. 3).

“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,” Lautenberg said. “Given these out-of-control toll hikes and the cloud of misinformation surrounding them, these federal protections for commuters need to be restored.”

The legislation would subject all bridge and tunnel toll hikes to DOT scrutiny. It does not define what it means for an increase to be “just and reasonable,” instead instructing DOT to write regulations defining the phrase.

It also sets forth a complaint system for anyone who feels a toll is not warranted under the law, as well as a system for appealing the decisions about those complaints.

The Port Authority initially said its toll increases would help cover redevelopment of Manhattan’s World Trade Center, which the bi-state agency owns. AAA sued to stop the increases, saying the agency violated state law by directing funds to a nontransportation-related asset (10-10, p. 4).

In a November court filing for the AAA lawsuit, the Port Authority retreated, saying the funds would not go to WTC redevelopment (12-12, p. 19). But that didn’t prevent anger over the increases by legislators and advocacy groups.

“The Port Authority has reaped the benefit from nearly unchecked control in deciding how much is ‘just and reasonable’ for commuters traveling on the federal highway system to pay,” Grimm said in a statement.

“With almost no return on transportation infrastructure or mass transit for commuters, it is as clear as daylight that there is little-to-no oversight on how or where the money is spent,” he said.

The measure has the support of AAA, the American Highway Users Alliance and American Trucking Associations, among other groups, Lautenberg said.

“There are a number of reasons why tolling is bad public policy, but that policy gets worse when the tolls are raised without consideration for the users of highways and bridges and the revenue generated is not dedicated for their benefit, but rather stolen for other projects,” ATA President Bill Graves said in a statement.

The bill also would direct the Government Accountability Office, which serves as a watchdog for Congress, to study tolling authority budget practices and the transparency and accountability of those agencies.