Well, it’s an improvement, anyway: Gov. Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have OK’d E-ZPass toll hikes of $1.50 at Port Authority bridges and tunnels and a PATH-fare bump of a quarter.
Cash customers at the tolls will pay $4 more — and additional hikes will bring their charge to $15 in four years.
It’s certainly better than the original plan the Port Authority and its boss, Chris Ward, sought. That called for E-ZPass upticks of as much as $4 by next month and a $17 cash toll in just three years.
Sure, even the revised hikes will be tough on commuters.
And the cash fee is still a bit much.
Fact is, though, the PA’s bridges, tunnels, trains and, most of all, Ground Zero reconstruction all cost money.
Mountains of it.
And all are vital to the region.
Where’s the cash supposed to come from?
Higher tolls and PATH fares, Ward said, are “absolutely necessary to . . . maintain and grow the critical transportation infrastructure that serves the bi-state region.”
Without the dough, “construction of the World Trade Center site could slow or stop,” and numerous other projects — like fixing or replacing key bridge and tunnel components — would be at risk.
The resulting hassles for commuters if that happened, and the potential compromises in safety, could prove more costly than the toll and fare hikes themselves.
That doesn’t mean motorists should have to fork over $17 to cross the GW, of course. Or endure the 50 percent bump in peak-hour E-ZPass tolls, from $8 to $12, the plan originally called for.
Then again, from the get-go, both Cuomo and Christie — either of whom could veto the plan — signaled that they’d never OK that kind of pain.
“The proposal is a non-starter for obvious reasons,” Cuomo said.
“You’re kidding, right?” asked Christie.
It’s hard to believe, of course, that either governor was actually kept in the dark about the plan until it was floated. One theory: The huge hikes were meant to soften the public for the somewhat lower ones that are expected to be passed today.
And to give the govs something to roll back — so they can look like heroes.
If that’s true, was it disingenuous?
Absolutely.
It enraged motorists and PATH riders — perhaps needlessly.
At the same time, though, it ignited an absolutely critical debate about the need to properly fund local bridges, tunnels and mass transit.
When the hikes pass today, it’ll be worth remembering: Shortchange the infrastructure, and imperil the region.
That’s no choice at all.