[jballanc]

There's a radical, yet likely very workable solution to this catch-22... A couple of years back when there was talk of introducing congestion pricing in Manhattan, there was a bridge toll increase around the same time. Someone figured out that if, instead of the usual $0.50 or $1 increase, the bridge tolls in NYC were increased to $20-25, then you could make all of the MTA lines (subway, LIRR, metro north) free of charge.

Of course, as you might expect, it never got anywhere...

[prawn]

There is a bridge over to Staten Island (from the South, I think?) that costs $14. It's free in the reverse direction, AFAIK. Drove it the other day as a tourist in the area and thought "This would suck if I had to commute this every day!"

Presumably the cost is there to encourage everyone to take public transport instead.