NYC Bridge Program To Increase Tolls

Dear Member:

A few months back I received a call from a man who identified himself as the person in charge of bridges in New York City. He indicated that in the state legislature there was a lobbying effort to pass a state law requiring the city to erect suicide barriers on all the bridges in the city. I was more than curious as why he was calling me, but I was even more curious as to why, with all the awful mismanagement, fiscal irresponsibility, lawlessness, illegal immigration issues, and outright corruption in the Big Apple, was it the time to attack the obvious epidemic of people leaping to their deaths off of New York City’s bridges? I asked what the estimated costs was – his answer: $10,000,000 to $90,000,000! I asked how many folks last year took their life in that manner – his answer: seven! Then, I finally asked him why in the world was he calling me – his answer: because in order to pay for this program, he was going to have to raise the toll costs on trucks!!!

About a week ago, I received a copy of the state law to put this into place.

The economy in New York City produces very little. The ratio of goods coming into the city versus those going out is absurdly unbalanced. The cost to run a load of freight into the city and the cost of running empty out of the city after considering the added costs of tolls, fees, etc., makes bringing goods to the inhabitants a non-starter for most full-truckload companies.

By all means, lets raise the tolls on bridges for truckers to help those poor lost souls who have decided to end it all.