The plan to hit up drivers for 14 bucks when they enter Westchester County (the bridge has a one-way toll system) is very likely a trial balloon, similar to the Port Authority’s plan last year to impose huge new hikes on its bridges and tunnels that connect New York and New Jersey. Governors Cuomo and Christie expressed horror and outrage, and the PA, as if on cue, immediately reduced its request, but tolls went up all the same.

That’s the likely scenario for the new Tappan Zee Bridge—the toll will be significantly higher than it is now, but it won’t be as high as the request. That’s how politics works. But here’s the problem: Government is making it increasingly expensive for commuters and commercial traffic, and that’s simply not good news for the city and regional economy.

Visitors from other parts of the country are invariably shocked when they find they have to fork over double-digit tolls for the privilege of using a bridge or a tunnel. Then again, if they find that fee shocking, they undoubtedly fall into a dead faint when they receive their first parking ticket. Welcome to New York.

It’s expensive here, but it’s incumbent on government—especially on quasi-public agencies like the Port Authority—to keep the cost of transportation reasonable. Agencies like the Port Authority and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority often act in an less-than-transparent manner, and the PA has strayed far from its core mission of providing efficient transportation facilities for the New York-New Jersey region.

If the region’s transportation agencies are more concerned with building real estate empires or serving as patronage dumping grounds, they do a huge disservice to the region’s commuters and, therefore, to the regional economy. Like it or not, New York City’s vitality depends on the willingness of millions of New Jersey, Connecticut and Long Island residents to make the often-tiresome commute into and out of Manhattan every day. Some Manhattanites sneeringly refer to commuters as the bridge-and-tunnel crowd, as if they are a lower form of life.

But if a significant portion of the region’s commuters decided that they were tired of being seen as a cash cow for unaccountable public transportation agencies, the sidewalks of New York would look very empty indeed, and the economies of New Jersey, Connecticut and Long Island would benefit as a result.

New York’s elected officials may deny it, but they have plenty of power over the region’s transportation agencies. Their appointees are on the agencies’ boards, after all. They have to stop playing games and get serious about keeping the cost of commuting affordable. The city’s economy depends on those out-of-towners.

The TriState Transportation Campaign just launched a new set of radio ads ahead of public hearings next week for the administration-approved, mass-transit-less bridge planned to replace the dangerously deteriorated Tappan Zee. The spots conclude: "Without transit, we’ll be stuck in traffic for decades. Tell Albany—we need transit on the Tappan Zee." It is the same message offered by a recent video produced by the group that shows politicians and planners on both sides of the river and the aisle support mass transit on the bridge. They all want to know why after a decade of planning, after 280 meetings, it must all be cast aside.

Will the Cuomo administration really relent after accepting public comment? Streetsblog has been covering the issue closely, and their reporting on the environmental review for the bridge suggests the muscle-car-loving governor most certainly will not. Meanwhile the bridge may cost an extra $1.4 billion and taker longer than expected to complete. With all that in mind, why not take a little time and get it right.

Update: The man let go of the rope on purpose or accidentally fell into the water around 2 p.m., according to The Nation's Greg Mitchell. He landed in water or on the deck of barge and was taken to police barracks, Mr. Mitchell reports. The man's condition is unknown, but NBC New York reports the man fell in the water, not on the barge. Right now he's on an emergency worker's boat, according to Gothamist. Before jumping he also took off his pants, apparently, and tried to swim away but emergency workers gave him a life preserver, which he took.

Occupy Wall Street might have to step up their protesting efforts. A man is currently dangling off the Tappan Zee Bridge, protesting his termination at a mental health facility Rockland County. Michael Davitt is clinging to a banner that's tied to a van blocking traffic on the bridge over the Hudson River, occasionally taking sips from a thermos. The banner reads "ROCKLAND EXECUTIVE LEGISLATURE COVER UP RETALIATION," and Patch reports his car has closed one lane.

Emergency crews are gathering in three boats below the bridge in Tarrytown. They don't seem to know what to do.

Mr. Davitt is a Rockland County resident who has alleged during several county council meetings he wrongfully lost his job, Rockland County Sheriff James Kralik told Patch. Mr. Davitt has apparently been conducting one-man protests in front of the Rockland County Office Building in New City and has spoken several times to the Rockland County Legislature. Sheriff Kralik also told patch his comments to the Legislature were "somewhat threatening." Before losing his job, Mr. Davitt worked for the Department of Mental Health at Rockland County's health complex in Pomona. Do we need to point out the irony?