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The Move NY Fair Plan would call for $5.45 toll on the Ed Koch Queensboro, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges as well as at each road that crosses 60th Street in Manhattan. That includes the West Side Highway and Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive. (Image courtesy of Move NY)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Sam Schwartz wants to drastically cut the Verrazano Bridge toll and generate $1.5 billion in annual revenue in the process.

After years of tweaking, Move NY presented its official "Move NY Fair Plan" on Tuesday. The plan would reduce the toll of the Verrazano Bridge to $3.04 with E-ZPass, or $5.50 without. (Image courtesy of Move NY)

Schwartz believes it's possible by completely overhauling the tolling structure of New York City bridges and gateways.

In 2012, he became the leader of the transportation advocacy group Move NY.

Shortly after, he began pitching a plan that would lower fares on less frequented, outer borough crossings and bring tolls to Manhattan and the East River bridges.

Move NY calls this "fair tolling."

"It's unfair that Staten Islanders, as well as truckers and workers heading to the Island, have to pay tolls from which the majority of the money goes to subsidize rail transit to Manhattan when it is the only borough with no rail link to Manhattan," wrote Schwartz in an Advance editorial from last July. "In effect, Staten Islanders are subsidizing drivers using the Manhattan, Brooklyn, Williamsburg and Queensboro bridges who pay no tolls."

After years of tweaking, Move NY announced its official "Move NY Fair Plan" on Tuesday. The plan would reduce the toll of the Verrazano Bridge to $3.43 for E-ZPass users taking three or more trips per month, or $11 without.

The same rate would be charged on the MTA's other outer-borough bridges, like the Triborough, Whitestone, Throgs Neck.

Meanwhile, the plan calls for a $5.45 toll on the Ed Koch Queensboro, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges as well as at each road that crosses 60th Street in Manhattan. That includes the West Side Highway and FDR Drive.

Move NY says that the free bridges promote "toll shopping" that adds to congestion in Manhattan.

"The toll disparity between the MTA tunnels and the free East River crossings fosters 'toll shopping' that dumps thousands of additional daily trips onto jammed city streets, adding to traffic gridlock in areas least-equipped to handle it," the report states.

Move NY says that toll collection wouldn't create more traffic. E-ZPasses -- or license plates, for those without E-ZPass -- would be scanned as vehicles travel the speed limit of bridges and roads.

The plan is similar to former Mayor Michael Bloomberg's "congestion pricing" initiative in 2008, except that Move NY calls for toll equity and reduces rates at less-traveled bridges, where there is a dearth of mass transit options -- like Staten Island's Verrazano.

"Tolls should be a disincentive to unnecessary trips, but on bridges like the Verrazano and the Throgs Neck, transit alternatives are so poor that tolls function more as a penalty," states the Fair Plan report.

Move NY hopes that the official plan will garner support from state Legislature. The plan comes as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority looks to Albany to fill a $15-billion funding gap in it's next five-year, $32-billion capital plan.

The organization says that if the $1.5 billion annual revenue was bonded, it could come close to covering the MTA's capital program funding gap.

"We spent time on feedback to address the concerns of stakeholders around the region and now we've reached a critical mass of support," said Bart Robbett, communications advisor for Move NY. "And now we wanted to offer the best possibility to cover [the MTA's] capital program."

Linda Baran, the president of the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce, has fought to no avail to fund a North Shore Bus Rapid Transit system on Staten Island. She's frustrated that residents will soon be paying $16, cash, to cross the Verrazano, while Staten Island's mass transit needs continue to be overlooked.

"How is it that we pay the highest tolls yet the the East River bridges aren't tolled at all?" said Ms. Baran. "It definitely takes into consideration that the outer boroughs don't see fare share funding. ...'Move NY' definitely opens up dialogue for something that needs to happen. We can't continue on this path where outer boroughs' needs aren't addressed because there is no funding."