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Page 3 - Toll Issues of the Pre-TBTA Agencies
copyright © 2020 ~ Philip M. Goldstein ~ www.nyctollscrip.info

Toll Scrip, Tokens and Ephemera of the States of New York and New Jersey


by Philip M. Goldstein
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City of New YorkCity of New YorkState of NY & NJState of New YorkState of New JerseyState of New Jersey

Introduction


Page Index


Purpose of a Toll

Purpose of Toll Scrip & Tokens


Urban Myth - Toll Elimination

Urban Legend - Omero Catan

Private and
Early City of New York
Toll Bridges, Plank Roads
& Turnpikes


Triborough Bridge &
Tunnel Authority

MTA Bridges & Tunnels

New York State Bridge and Tunnel Commission / New Jersey Interstate Bridge and Tunnel Commission

Port of
New York Authority

Port Authority
of New York
and New Jersey

Private & Early Toll Bridges, Plank Roads & Turnpikes

NYS Thruway

NYS Bridge Authority


International Crossings

New Jersey Turnpike

Garden State Pkwy

Atlantic City Expressway

Private Bridges

County Operated Bridges



Delaware River Crossings
updated: 6/20/2024


The Predecessor Agencies to the TBTA




   As each bridge or tunnel was planned, an new agency was organized to discuss planning, apply for financing and to issue bonds, and issues the construction contracts; as well as operate the completed crossing.

   This led to several agencies in the New York Metropolitan area all pretty much doing the same thing.  
      • the Triborough Bridge Authority in 1933,
      • Henry Hudson Parkway Authority in 1934, 
      • Marine Parkway Authority (which included the Cross Bay Bridge as well when opened) in 1934,
        and the
      • Queens Midtown Tunnel Authority in 1935, which was quickly renamed the New York City Tunnel Authority the following year.

   Please keep in mind that the incorporation date of the operating entity was usually a few years prior to the actual opening of the crossing.

   The Marine Parkway and the Henry Hudson Parkway Authorities would be merged into the New York City Parkway Authority i 1939, consolidating their efforts and organizations; but for all the others, they were separate.

   As it has been observed, each of these operating agencies issued its own scrip and passes for the express use at their specific crossings; and as far as it known, they were not reciprocal with other crossings or agencies.

   It is mentioned in several New York Times articles
published prior to the existence of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, and one article in particular dated January 19, 1938 (seen to the right).

   Robert Moses campaigned for the creation of a unified parkway administration agency to administer to all the toll roads and crossings within the City of New York; this to include the existing Henry Hudson Parkway Authority and the Marine Parkway Authority.

   Robert Moses was chairman and sole member of those Henry Hudson and Marine Parkway Authorities.
As proposed, these two agencies would be consolidated into the New York City Parkway Authority in 1938; until that agency itself would be merged into the Triborough Bridge Authority in February 1940 (and with that name being retained) with the passage of the "Crews-Nunan" bill.

   Not so coincidentally, Mr. Moses was also in charge of the Triborough Bridge Authority.



The New York City Tunnel Authority


   At this juncture, the New York City Tunnel Authority (former Queens Midtown Tunnel Authority) was not part of this organization and was administered to separately until 1946. It should
also be noted that the New York City Tunnel Authority had also been authorized by the New York State Legislature to administer to the operation of two tunnels: the Queens-Midtown AND the Brooklyn Battery Tunnels.
With subsequent funding issues and World War II material and manpower shortages, the construction of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel was not to take place
until 1950, and after the agencies had been consolidated under the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority name.


   This New York Times article also mentions the intent to widen the Beach Channel Bridge on Cross Bay Boulevard, which at the time of publication, the Boulevard was a free passage. It is
upon this improvement, that a toll would be collected on crossing the Cross Bay Bridge.

   To better understand what agency merged into which and on what date, you can refer to the the following organizational chart.

   Keep in mind however that the history and toll items of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority will be discussed and displayed on the next page of this series and accessible via the
link in the brown index tab of this page.

  



Toll Fare Schedules Upon Crossing Opening


Triborough Bridge Authority
New York City Tunnel Authority
Triborough Bridge
July 11, 1936

Bronx-Whitestone Bridge
April 29, 1939

Queens Midtown Tunnel
November 15, 1940

classvehicletollclassvehicletollclassvehicletoll
1passenger autos, all types taxicab,
ambulances, hearses, horsedrawn vehicles
.251passenger autos, all types taxicab,
ambulances, hearses, horsedrawn vehicles
.251passenger auto, all types taxicabs,
ambulances & hearses
.25
22 axle trucks, less than 2 tons.2522 axle trucks, less than 2 tons.2522 axle trucks, less than 2 tons.25
32 axle trucks, 2 - 5 tons.3532 axle trucks, 2 - 5 tons.3532 axle trucks, 2 - 5 tons.40
42 axle trucks, more than 5 tons.5042 axle trucks, more than 5 tons.5042 axle trucks, more than 5 tons.60
5all buses.505all buses.505buses (2 & 3 axle).50
63 axle trucks, tractors, passenger autos w/ semi trailer.6063 axle trucks, tractors, passenger autos w/ semi trailer.6063 axle trucks, tractors or passenger autos w/ semi trailer.75
74 axle trucks, tractors, cars with trailer.7574 axle trucks, tractors, cars with trailer.7574 axle trucks, tractors or passenger auto w/ 2 axle trailer$1.00
8motorcycles.158motorcycles.158special classificationtbd
9bicycles.109bicycles.109motorcycles.15
.

.
Henry Hudson Parkway Authority
Marine Parkway AuthorityNew York City Parkway Authority
Henry Hudson Bridge
December 12, 1936
Marine Parkway Bridge
July 3, 1937
Cross Bay Bridge
June 3,
1939
classvehicletollclassvehicletollclassvehicletoll
12 axle passenger autos all types, station wagons, 
ambulances, hearses, franchise buses engaged in general transportation, and
2 axle trucks less than 2 tons
.10passenger cars.15*12 axle passenger autos, station wagons, ambulances, hearses.10
passenger trailers.5022 axle trucks less than 2 tons.10
motorcycles.15*32 axle trucks, 2 - 5 tons.25
9motorcycles.10bicycles.1042 axle trucks more than 5 tons, passenger autos with 2 axle trailer.35
franchise buses.2552 axle buses (other than buses in 1 above), and all
2 axle vehicles transporting 10 or more persons including operator
.35
charter buses.50.  .63 axle trucks, tractors, buses.40
commercial vehicles up to 2 tons.2574 axle trucks, tractors, buses,.50
5 ton trucks.358franchise buses.10
10 ton trucks.509motorcycles.10
single axle trailers.60
double axle trailers.75
* = toll reduced to 10 cents in 1939 upon opening of Cross Bay Bridge 
upon opening of second Cross Bay Bridge, classification system adopted at Marine Parkway Bridge
Tolls were collected on the second  Cross Bay Bridge, which was an improvement upon the 1925 span & causeway, which were free until that time..








Scrip / Tickets

 Mentioned in a New York Times article dated July 16, 1939; are the give-aways of a 50 ticket book to drivers on "landmark" occasions: one millionth auto to cross the bridge, the two millionth, and so on; over particular crossings.

   In this particular case, the driver of the 4,000,000th car at the Marine Parkway Bridge received a book of 50 toll tickets.

   This same article above also describes the lowering of the toll on the Marine Parkway Bridge from 15 cents to 10 cents upon the opening of the Crossbay Parkway Bridge (which took place June 3, 1939 - just 45 days prior) and the 1,000,000th automobile was expected to cross the bridge the following week!  

   That number doesn't seem impressive by today's standards, and granted a lot of those are round trip crossings by residents of Brooklyn and Queens; but when you consider there were only just over twenty-six million private automobiles registered for the entire United States in 1939, four million autos at only one minor non-interstate crossing in the City of New York does leave one a little impressed.

   It is with utmost thanks to Ms. Nellie Hankins, Assistant Archivist for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority - Bridges & Tunnels, that I am proud to share the following with you. I received
a reply to my email inquiry and request of 01 October 2019 on 22 October:


"There are TBTA predecessor agency toll tickets in our collection dating back to 1939 (they may have been issued as early as 1936). The early ones were special passes issued for free passage to military vehicles, vehicles on government business, and employees at Manhattan State Hospital on Randall's Island. The New York City Tunnel Authority sold toll tickets from the Queens Midtown Tunnel beginning in 1940, and TBTA began selling tickets in 1946. The ones that you sent were the square punch card variety that were issued beginning in 1963, although yours are slightly later (c. 1970). I have attached an image of the tokens with their release dates, as well as order sheets for various denominations of tickets. While there were relatively few types of tokens issued, there were many types of scrip issued by TBTA and its predecessor agencies. The attached samples and price lists are not exhaustive.
I’m attaching examples of toll tickets to a separate email."


   Without any doubt, Ms. Hankins apparently went all out and spent three weeks (or a very good portion of it at least!) searching through the TBTA/MTA archives, because I was sent three emails with more images and pdf's than I know what to do with!

  It should be remembered, that the Henry Hudson Parkway Authority, Marine Parkway Authority and the Triborough Bridge Authority all operated concurrently. Each crossing in essence was operated as its own authority.


Individual (Predecessor) Authority Scrip Issues - 1936 to 1946:

Please Note:
On some scrip, the date on the design is the incorporation date for the agency, NOT the date the bridge(s) or tunnel opened; e.g.: the New York City Tunnel Authority was chartered 1936
and as such is displayed as "AD 1936" in the agency seal on the script design. But in actuality the Queens Midtown Tunnel did not open to traffic until 1940.

Henry Hudson Parkway Authority Issues: ca. 1941
Henry Hudson Parkway Authority - ca. 1941 - ?
Toll Permit for Official Business
collection of MTA Bridges & Tunnel Archives
.

.
New York City Parkway Authority Issues: 1939 to 1946
Cross Bay Parkway Bridge - Toll Permit for Official Business (book cover) - ca. 1939
collection of MTA Bridges & Tunnel Archives
.

.
NEW YORK CITY TUNNEL AUTHORITY

REWARD!

WANTED TO PURCHASE!

- issued Toll Scrip / Coupons 
- Engravers Master (Printers) Plates
- Transfer Rolls (not shown)
- Printers Proofs
from the
NEW YORK CITY TUNNEL AUTHORITY


Known to have been issued in .25 .40 .50 .60 and .75 cent denominations

If you have, or know of the whereabouts of
any of the items mentioned
seen at left, in any condition;
(and even if you do not want to sell,
I would like to record the existence of said items)


please contact me at

bedt14@aol.com
or call
(936) 396-6103

.
.
issued scrip
engravers master plateprinters proof
.

.
New York City Tunnel Authority (Queens Midtown Tunnel) Issues: 1940 to 1946
25 cent - 1940 to 1946
facsimile signature of Fearson Shortridge, manager
printed by American Bank Note Company
Heritage Auction Archives
.

.
25 cent - 1940 to 1946
steel intaglio plate, American Bank Note Company
#81536
4" x 5.5"
facsimile signature of Fearson Shortridge, manager

 ink color: purple
Lawrence collection
.

.
40 cent - 1940 to 1946
steel intaglio plate, American Bank Note Company
#81537
4" x 5.5"
facsimile signature of Fearson Shortridge, manager
 ink color not known
Lawrence collection
.

.

As auctioned off on eBay
As arrivedafter 20 minutes with Goo Gone followed with 91% rubbing alcohol
50 cent - 1940 to 1946
steel intaglio plate, American Bank Note Company
#81538
4" x 5.5"
facsimile signature of Fearson Shortridge, manager
 ink color not known
formerly Lawrence collection
formerly Mucha collection
at present authors collection
.

.
60 cent - 1940 to 1946
steel intaglio plate, American Bank Note Company
#81539
4" x 5.5"
facsimile signature of Fearson Shortridge, manager
 ink color not known
Lawrence collection
.

.
75 cent - 1940 to 1946
steel intaglio plate, American Bank Note Company
#81540
4" x 5.5"
facsimile signature of Fearson Shortridge, manager
 ink color not known
Lawrence collection
.

.
Special Ticket for Queens Midtown Tunnel - ca. 1940 to 1946
issued to secretary of the Mayor of New York City (Fiorello H. LaGuardia)
printed by The Jarrett Press.
facsimile signature of Fearson Shortridge, manager
collection of MTA Bridges & Tunnel Archives
.

.
Triborough Bridge Authority Issues: 1936 to 1946
Official Ticket for Bronx Whitestone Bridge only - 1/16/1947
facsimile signature of Paul Loeser, general manager (1934-1943)
collection of MTA Bridges & Tunnel Archives
.

.
"C" Official Ticket for Cross Bay Bridge? City? only
owner: Department of Sanitation?
with facsimile signature of Paul Loeser, general manager (1934-1943)

collection of MTA Bridges & Tunnel Archives

"C" Official Ticket for Cross Bay Bridge? City? only - 1/19/1947
without facsimile signature of Paul Loeser, general manager

collection of MTA Bridges & Tunnel Archives
.

.
Official Ticket - general issue - good for all crossings
owner: Long Island State Parkway Commission

facsimile signature of Paul Loeser, general manager (1934-1943)
collection of MTA Bridges & Tunnel Archives





all text & images: © 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 ~ Philip M. Goldstein ~ www.nynjtollscrip.info
bedt14@aol.com
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