Port Authority Gives Out $1 Mil In E-Z Passes

It looks like the MTA isn't alone in giving away taxpayer dollars to their favorite people. The Port Authority, funded by New York and New Jersey, have been doling out more than a million dollars worth of E-Z passes. None of this of course, was done with the permission of the taxpayer.

From The NY Daily News:

The Port Authority loses $1 million a year in tolls from almost 7,600 employees and retirees who get free E-ZPass tags, thanks to union contracts and agency tradition.

"The program only represents a fraction of a percent of our toll revenue," Port Authority spokesman Marc La Vorgna told the Daily News. "It is a commitment that was made mostly through collective bargaining."

The E-ZPasses work on the agency's bridges and tunnels. About 4,000 of them go to active employees, the rest to retirees.

Gov. Paterson, through a spokeswoman, did not take a position on the matter. New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine called on the Port Authority to drop the perk, calling it inappropriate.

This blows away the mere $30,000 in freebies the MTA has been found to give away to their board members. Although many of these have gone to union members, it should still have been done with the knowledge of the public...and not simply come out in the news like this.