
NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A group of local leaders has introduced legislation that would bring two-way tolling back to the Verrazzano Bridge after more than three decades of a one-way toll.
The round-trip cost will stay the same, but instead of paying $19 to go towards Staten Island and nothing to go towards Brooklyn, drivers will pay $9.50 to go each direction.
"This will not add one cent to people's daily costs," said Staten Island congressman Max Rose, who introduced the legislation Sunday along with Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Nydia Velazquez.
"Out-of-state folks are using the one-way toll to sneak into Manhattan and leave without paying a dime," Rose said.
The congressman says all local resident discounts would stay in place.
The one-way fee was started back in the 1980s when there were toll plazas that would cause traffic backups.
The Verrazzano Bridge has the only toll in the U.S. that's federally mandated, so Congress will have to approve the measure.