Dinowitz wins Henry Hudson Bridge toll rebate for Bronxites
BY ALEX MITCHELL
A pipe dream for many
Bronxites and Assemblyman
Jeffery Dinowitz will soon become
a reality.
The Henry Hudson Bridge
toll, a costly charge for Bronx
residents crossing the Harlem
River via the Henry Hudson
Parkway, will soon be free for
Bronx-registered vehicles using
an EZ Pass.
The Henry Hudson Bridge
rebate is scheduled to begin in
the spring of 2020 according to
Dinowitz’ offi ce. When an E-Z
Pass-equipped car crosses the
bridge, the toll will be charged
to its account, but then immediately
credited back. The toll,
which started out at ten cents
when it was fi rst initiated, is
currently $2.80 for E-Z Pass
users and $7 for those without
E-Z Pass.
“In recent years the toll has
continued to rise,” Dinowitz
said after the announcement.
Many drivers leave the parkway
and use the local streets
to avoid the pricey bridge toll,
causing increased congestion
and pollution in Kingsbridge
and Marble Hill, the assemblyman
added.
Originally, Dinowitz sug-
The Henry Hudson Bridge. Schneps Media/ Alex Mitchell
gested moving the toll stations
to the Bronx/Yonkers border,
however the Bronx rebate will
accomplish the same goal.
“Bronxites shouldn’t be put
in a situation of paying two
tolls. That isn’t fair,” he said, in
relation to the additional ‘congesting
pricing’ fee Bronx drivers
will be charged when entering
mid-town Manhattan.
Dinowitz led the charge
and secured the commitment
for the Henry Hudson Bridge
rebate after voting in favor of
the Congesting Pricing Program.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,8 APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2019 BTR
“I understand that there
are some transit advocates
who may be disappointed with
what they perceive as a congestion
pricing carve out or a
furtherance of incentivizing
individual car usage, however
I disagree with that characterization,”
Dinowitz said noting
his positioned softened from
adamant opposition to congestion
pricing a decade ago.
His opposition to the plan
changed in 2019 due to an overwhelming
need for revenue to
fund the proposed Fast Forward
plan recommended by
NYC Transit president Andy
Byford.
That plan is a decade-long
effort for transportation improvements
by the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority
and other government agencies
to better the transit system.
One major component of
that plan, which Dinowitz had
called for in January, was improved
and redesigned, Bronx
bus routes.
Specifi cally, Dinowitz is
particularly interested in accelerating
both the installation
of Transit Signal Priority
at intersections along all bus
routes throughout the northwest
Bronx and the implementation
of all-door boarding on
local bus routes.
Some of his other transit
driven incentives for 2019 are:
improving multi-modal transit
accommodations, such as
the addition of bicycle parking
at MetroNorth and subway
stations with a particular
focus on terminal stations
at Van Cortlandt Park-242nd
Street on the #1 IRT, Wakefi eld
241st Street on the #2 IRT; and
Nereid Avenue on the #5 IRT,
and Metro-North stations at
Riverdale, Spuyten Duyvil,
Wakefi eld and Woodlawn; reimplementing
express subway
service along the #1 IRT
to reduce commute times into
Manhattan.
At the top of the the assemblyman’s
transit priority list
now is making all subway and
Metro North stations in his
district handicap and ADA accessible.