New York City Is Raising Toll Prices for Law-Abiding Citizens After Failing to Collect Billions from Toll Cheats
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in new York City has reportedly failed to collect $5.1 billion in tolls and fees over a four-year period, prompting outrage among residents who are now facing new congestion pricing rates. In 2024 alone,toll violations amounted to over $1.4 billion, with an additional $3.7 billion lost between 2021 and 2023. Many drivers are reportedly evading toll payments using “ghost plates,” while law-abiding commuters now pay a $9 congestion fee to enter Manhattan, which critics argue is unfair given the amount lost through violations.
Residents express frustration, stating that it feels unjust to penalize honest drivers while the MTA does not enforce payment from violators.Some, like truck driver Kenny McCutcheon, believe tougher measures should be taken against unpaid tolls rather of increasing costs for compliant drivers.The newly implemented congestion pricing comes amid a backdrop of safety concerns on public transit, leading some to feel pressured into using subways despite recent violent incidents.
Local officials, including Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, have condemned the situation, characterizing it as a failure of leadership and law enforcement. The prevailing sentiment among New Yorkers is one of injustice, as they grapple with the financial burden of both congestion fees and a lack of accountability for toll evaders. As lawful citizens grow increasingly frustrated, the need for political action to address these issues is highlighted.
New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority has failed to collect $5.1 billion in tolls and fees over just four years, outraging residents who are meanwhile being asked to pay new congestion pricing rates.
The agency said that “toll violations” exceeded $1.4 billion in 2024, as well as $3.7 billion between 2021 and 2023, according to a report from the New York Post.
That comes as certain residents find ways to cheat the system, such as by using “ghost plates” to avoid collection of the tolls through the new “cashless” systems.
But commuters in the Big Apple are now forking over $9 congestion tolls to enter Manhattan in a new program unveiled last month. The $500 million to $800 million to be collected from commuters each year does not even come close to matching the amount lost through violations.
New Yorkers therefore see the congestion prices as unfair.
“They need to crack down more on people who don’t pay the tolls, instead of charging the rest of us so much,” Kenny McCutcheon, a truck driver from Long Island, told the Post.
“I think it’s ridiculous I gotta pay $9 just to come here.”
Benjamin Li, who runs a smoothie cart and commutes from Brooklyn to the Financial District, said that he now drives into Manhattan at 4:45 a.m. to avoid the $9 fee, instead paying the $2.25 fee imposed outside of peak commuting hours.
“I obey the law, whatever they charge. But I see so many people trying to save money illegally with ghost plates,” Li said.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman condemned the situation as well.
“This is what happens when you have a state that doesn’t enforce its laws and people feel they can get away with anything due to the incompetence of leadership in Albany and at the MTA,” he remarked.
“Taxpayers are left with the burden of having to close the huge deficits with idiotic programs like congestion pricing which based on the MTA’s track record, most people won’t pay either.”
The new congestion prices were launched amid several shockingly violent incidents on New York City subways, meaning that some residents feel like they are being pressured to take public transit and encounter safety threats, or else be stuck with the massive $9 fee.
Just this past Sunday, yet another lunatic stabbed a fellow passenger on the subway multiple times, as noted by the Post.
The lawlessness in New York City can and should rightly incense law-abiding residents.
The leadership of America’s biggest metropolis truly seems to be draining everyday hard-working citizens, all while failing to provide a basic environment of law and order.
As law-abiding people reach their breaking points, the city will have less taxpayers to leech from, and the situation will only worsen.
That is, of course, unless New Yorkers muster the political will to save their city.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
" Conservative News Daily does not always share or support the views and opinions expressed here; they are just those of the writer."
*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
Now loading...