Fixing the Express Lane
If you ask me, I think this looks like a scam: (The full story is in the NY Post, via Gotham Gazette.)

Rush-hour drivers heading into Manhattan could pay a premium toll for an express lane directly to the Lincoln Tunnel, according to a study launched yesterday by the Port Authority.

There already is an express lane heading to the Lincoln Tunnel on the Jersey side. It's called EZPass. But the reason it's not express all the time is because the non-EZPass drivers get in the lane (even though it's marked with purple paint for about a quarter-mile) and zip up to the toll plaza and then slam on their brakes until a driver in the non-EZPass lane will let them in. When they stop, everyone all the way up the ramp stops as well and goodbye express lane.

If the Port Authority really wanted to speed up traffic, they'd just need to add little concrete barriers only a few inches tall to prevent people getting in and out of the EZPass lane once they've entered at the top of the ramp.
- posted by Amy @ 4/23/2004 02:14:00 PM