Previously I posted about the futility of not having Metro Card dispensers at LaGuardia Airport. I'm starting to wonder if that has less to do with any decision on the part of the MTA (who runs the buses and subway) or if it's a Port Authority decision.
The Port Authority runs LaGuardia Airport. It also runs bridges and tunnels that connect New York and New Jersey, including the George Washington Bridge (the original "GWB"). The George Washington Bridge has two levels, and unlike the Bay Bridge in California, each level has traffic in both directions. I remember when I was a kid always nagging my dad to take the upper level, where the view would be better, and how most of the time we'd end up on the lower level anyway. Sometimes it was because the traffic was better, sometimes it was because we missed the turn-off, and sometimes it was because the exit routing for where we were going was easier to follow on the lower level than the upper.
It seems, however, that recently the Port Authority got the brilliant idea to make the tolls for the lower level EZ Pass-only at night. A huge mess has naturally ensued, as people have ended up in the wrong place with only cash, which apparently the Port Authority doesn't want to trouble themselves to take (the toll is expensive, so it's quite a bit of money to be turning down.) People who end up in the wrong place are stuck with either having to make moronic driving maneuvers, or to drive through the tolls without paying (which then gets them a bill for the toll and a $25 fee.) It's a dangerous situation, and a loud one as well that's been waking the people who live nearby with all the honking and police loudspeaker announcements and such.
Sounds like an idea that should be revisited, right? Apparently not.
"If we start making exceptions," said Ciavolella, the Port Authority spokesman, "then it would defeat the purpose of what we're trying to do."
Exactly what is it that the Port Authority trying to do? Is it something more than collecting money and keeping traffic flowing smoothly, things you'd expect the Port Authority to do? Because it's clearly not doing those things well. What is it that it thinks is more worthwhile?
Port Authority insists that people will learn. OK, maybe regular commuters will figure out this arrangement, but what about the people who aren't? The people who are most likely not to have EZ Pass transponders? These people won't learn the system, and the system is going to make them scofflaws with large penalties to pay for an innocent mistake made due to no fault of their own.
When I was a webmaster I had to learn all about usability. It wasn't enough to make my web site the way I thought it should be designed. I had to make it in a way that the USERS thought it should be designed to suit their needs. It was amazing how many web sites ignore that very basic principle and stubbornly cling to their own myopic way of trying to "reach" people. There has to be a compromise between the provider of a system and its users. If the system's design prevents some users from using it, it's a complete failure that requires a redesign and not merely the obstinate hope that the users might somehow change.
When the system in question is a public utility (roads) such a failure is particularly inexcusable. All people, as they are, have the right to use the roads. Locals, one-time visitors, everyone. It's enough of a burden that any toll needs to be paid at all (poor people should be able to cross the river too) but if the arrangement essentially obstructs people from legitimately using a public system in a legitimate way, it must be changed.
Since the lower level of the George Washington Bridge is sometimes the only effective way to travel to one's destination, it needs to accommodate people without EZ Pass.* And the Port Authority should adjust its attitude. It's raison d'etre is not make the system it thinks it wants to make. It's purpose is to make a system that all people can use.
* People like me. Don't even get me started on how the police can find you wherever you are on the roads by tracking your EZ Pass signal. You think it's just to pay a toll conveniently? Think again.
Edit 7/21: Well, the Port Authority has made an improvement. Sort of. Now two lanes are "escape valves." If you end up there they tell you they will bill you for the toll and waive the fee, as long as it's the first offense. Lovely. So this presumes that occasional travellers won't make the same mistake twice. Or that more confusion won't be caused with more jockey-ing through confusing lanes and signs. Plus the admin costs of doing the billing. WHY DON'T THEY JUST TAKE THE DAMN MONEY!!!! I can't imagine it take more than a handful of cars per hour to pay for the manpower required to accept the cash. This is a major thoroughfare across a major river to a major city. I'm inclined to think that even in the middle of the night there are still likely to be more than a handful of cars looking to cross.