Snouts in the Trough
10:55amNo, not at Westminster, but abroad.
The board members responsible for imposing tolls on New York state motorists will never have to pay a toll in their lifetime. The New York Daily News reports that Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) board members each get special E-ZPass transponders that provide toll-free driving and do not expire, even when the individuals leave their position on the board. Tolls in New York City currently range up to $10 for a one-way trip across the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge....
Motoring aficionados are not the only ones to enjoy the free tolls perk. Even the advocates of mass transit on the board can call for higher tolls knowing they will never pay them. Andrew Albert of the Transit Riders Council has one permanent E-ZPass. Long Island Railroad Commuters Council Chairman James McGovern and Metro-North Commuter Council Chairman James Blair each have two. Board Vice Chairman David Mack has six, Vice Chairman Andrew Saul has four. The rest of the board members have one or two.
You know, maybe it's not in fact the people themselves at fault, but the system and incentives which they face? Bureaucracy and quangoes seem to bring out the same behaviour wherever they're found, don't they? The answer might thus be to reduce the bureaucracy?
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