STATEN ISLAND TRAFFIC & TRANSPORTATION

Traffic updates, driving conditions & mass transit news

Advance file photoCommuters wait for buses at Narrows Road South at Fingerboard Road.

Staten Island express bus riders may have to shell out $7.50 per ride, up from $5, if a proposed fare hike goes into effect to help overcome the MTA's massive budget deficit.

The authority that runs the nation's largest public transit system said today that it will have to raise fare revenue by 23 percent next year in order to plug a planned budget gap.

Advance file photoCommuters may learn how much more they'll have to pay to get to and from work today.

New Yorkers may soon learn how much more they'll have to pay to take the city's subways, buses and commuter trains.

The agency that runs the city's vast public transportation system has scheduled its monthly board meeting for Thursday morning, where the subject of how to close a $1.2 billion budget gap is at the top of the agenda.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials have already said they will need to raise fares or dramatically cut services to deal with the deficit.

Department of TransportationTraffic is moving well again on the Gowanus Expressway by the merge with the Prospect Expressway.

The end of the week is near and there's only one commuting day left once you make it through the day. SILive will try to help you get in to work smoothly.

The morning drive is off to a good start with no reported delays or incidents on the West Shore, Martin Luther King Jr. or Staten Island Expressways, on the Korean War Veterans Parkway (traffic cameras) or at any of the four bridges to Brooklyn and New Jersey.

In Brooklyn, an earlier accident by the Atlantic Avenue exit left traffic more heavily congested than normal though it seems to be clearing out now. All of the lower East River Crossings are in good shape. The eastbound Belt Parkway is moving at the speed limit.

Manhattan's West Side Highway looks to be moving fine at this hour but a major accident on the southbound FDR Drive by Gracie Mansion is taking out the left lane of the northbound lanes at 86th Street with emergency vehicles.

File photoFormer Sen. Robert F. Kennedy

The Triborough Bridge has a new name.

The span that connects Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens was renamed the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge in a dedication ceremony in Astoria Park, Queens this morning.

Former President Bill Clinton, Governor David Paterson and joined Kennedy's widow Ethel at the ceremony.

"It is an honor to join the Kennedy family today to celebrate their beloved father, uncle, brother and husband -- a man who served the people of our State and nation with distinction," said Paterson said. "Robert F. Kennedy was a champion of social justice and human rights and his spirit is kept alive by his family's continued commitment to those causes. I am particularly pleased to have had the opportunity to sign this bill into law, making possible the renaming of the Triborough Bridge as the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, which is a fitting tribute to the man and his legacy."

Kennedy, a New York senator, was killed in 1968 while campaigning to become the Democratic nominee for president.

The MTA bridge will be the first major public work dedicated to Robert Kennedy in the state he represented from 1965-1968.

Tomorrow would have been Robert Kennedy's 83rd birthday.

-Associated Press material was used in this report

Atlantic City's Expressway will stop accepting money at its toll plazas by the end of 2010.

The highway will use E-ZPass and video tolling instead.

Video tolling uses cameras to capture license plate numbers and motorists who don't have E-ZPass are billed for the toll.

Metropolitan Transportation AuthorityTraffic is moving well on the Brooklyn-bound Verrazano Bridge

Well it's not a good morning if you're driving to Manhattan by way of New Jersey.

The inbound Lincoln Tunnel is closed because of an accident just before the toll plaza. The closure is causing many drivers for opt for the George Washington Bridge instead, leading to a 25-minute backup to the upper level from the I-80/I-95 approaches. If you are coming from Routes 4 or 46, there is only a 5-minute delay.

The lower level is looking like your best option, though it will likely get heavier since cash-paying drivers can use both levels after 6 a.m The Holland Tunnel is doing remarkably well so far this morning..

Advance file photoPassengers wait to board a bus on Narrows Road South at Fingerboard Road.

Despite the MTA's looming $1.2 billion budget deficit, Staten Island's Charleston Bus Annex is still set to open as scheduled by the end of next year. But there may be fewer buses rolling in and out of the new facility, as the agency prepares to unveil a list of proposed service cuts this week.

Similarly, the long-awaited South Ferry subway station in Lower Manhattan is on track to open around New Year's, but if service cuts are implemented, fewer No. 1 trains could be pulling into and out of the new station.