Fort Lee Scheduled For Public Hearing On Port Authority's Toll Hike Plan

Commuters who cross the Hudson River into Manhattan on bridges—including the George Washington Bridge— and via tunnels and PATH could be hit with the largest-ever toll and fair increase next month, according to a plan announced by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Friday.

The plan calls for the following, among other changes:

• Beginning in September, tolls for E-ZPass drivers would rise from $6 to $10 during off-peak hours and from $8 to $12 during peak hours.

• An additional $2 increase would be tacked on in 2014, which would double off-peak E-ZPass fares over the three-year period.

• Drivers of passenger vehicles who pay cash—The Port Authority says just 25 percent of toll-payers still do—would pay an additional $3 surcharge, bringing their toll to $15 this year. That’s up from the current $8 cash toll. The surcharge would then increase by an additional $2 in 2014.

PATH fares would also increase from $1.75 to $2.75 under the plan.

In unveiling the plans Friday, the Port Authority said it was “faced with three unprecedented challenges at once:” a recession “that has sharply decreased revenue below projections,” nearly threefold increases in post-9/11 security costs and the cost of rebuilding the WTC and “the need for the largest overhaul of facilities in the agency’s 90-year history.”

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who could veto the plan and have indicated they would, according to reports, issued a joint statement Friday, expressing “obvious and significant concerns." The agency will vote on the unprecedented toll and fare hikes on Aug. 19 after hearings in both states, including one in Fort Lee on Aug. 16 at 6 p.m. at the George Washington Bridge Administration Building, 220 Bruce Reynolds Blvd.

Click here for a complete list of the Port Authority’s public hearing schedule.

Now we want to know what you think. If the plan goes through, how would the toll hikes—or fare hikes—affect you? Will you attend public hearings in Fort Lee or elsewhere, and what will you tell the Port Authority? If you cannot attend on Aug. 16, what message would you like to send to Port Authority officials?