Page 3 - Toll Issues of the Pre-TBTA Agencies

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
class	vehicle	toll	class	vehicle	toll		class	vehicle	toll
1	passenger autos, all types taxicab, ambulances, hearses, horsedrawn vehicles	.25	1	passenger autos, all types taxicab, ambulances, hearses, horsedrawn vehicles	.25		1	passenger auto, all types taxicabs, ambulances & hearses	.25
2	2 axle trucks, less than 2 tons	.25	2	2 axle trucks, less than 2 tons	.25		2	2 axle trucks, less than 2 tons	.25
3	2 axle trucks, 2 - 5 tons	.35	3	2 axle trucks, 2 - 5 tons	.35		3	2 axle trucks, 2 - 5 tons	.40
4	2 axle trucks, more than 5 tons	.50	4	2 axle trucks, more than 5 tons	.50		4	2 axle trucks, more than 5 tons	.60
5	all buses	.50	5	all buses	.50		5	buses (2 & 3 axle)	.50
6	3 axle trucks, tractors, passenger autos w/ semi trailer	.60	6	3 axle trucks, tractors, passenger autos w/ semi trailer	.60		6	3 axle trucks, tractors or passenger autos w/ semi trailer	.75
7	4 axle trucks, tractors, cars with trailer	.75	7	4 axle trucks, tractors, cars with trailer	.75		7	4 axle trucks, tractors or passenger auto w/ 2 axle trailer	$1.00
8	motorcycles	.15	8	motorcycles	.15		8	special classification	tbd
9	bicycles	.10	9	bicycles	.10		9	motorcycles	.15
. .
Henry Hudson Parkway Authority			Marine Parkway Authority > New York City Parkway Authority
Henry Hudson Bridge December 12, 1936			Marine Parkway Bridge July 3, 1937				Cross Bay Bridge June 3, 1939
class	vehicle	toll	class	vehicle	toll		class	vehicle	toll
1	2 axle passenger autos all types, station wagons, ambulances, hearses, franchise buses engaged in general transportation, and 2 axle trucks less than 2 tons	.10		passenger cars	.15*		1	2 axle passenger autos, station wagons, ambulances, hearses	.10
				passenger trailers	.50		2	2 axle trucks less than 2 tons	.10
				motorcycles	.15*		3	2 axle trucks, 2 - 5 tons	.25
9	motorcycles	.10		bicycles	.10		4	2 axle trucks more than 5 tons, passenger autos with 2 axle trailer	.35
				franchise buses	.25		5	2 axle buses (other than buses in 1 above), and all 2 axle vehicles transporting 10 or more persons including operator	.35
				charter buses	.50	. .	6	3 axle trucks, tractors, buses	.40
				commercial vehicles up to 2 tons	.25		7	4 axle trucks, tractors, buses,	.50
				5 ton trucks	.35		8	franchise buses	.10
				10 ton trucks	.50		9	motorcycles	.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 (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
. .


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 Lawrence 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


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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 NY & Canada International Crossings	New Jersey Turnpike Garden State Pkwy Atlantic City Expressway	Private Bridges County Operated Bridges NJ & PA / NJ & DE Delaware River Crossings
		updated: 12/18/2020