License Plate Tracking Tech Comes To Staten Island Bridges

By FrumNews.com 

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced a $10 million program to install enhanced license plate readers at its three Staten Island crossings. Data collected by such technology has assisted with the agency’s enforcement of toll evasion.

According to Staten Island prosecutors, these data have also helped decrease auto thefts by nearly 30 percent in cases before the Staten Island District Attorney’s Office so far this year.

This technology to be installed at the Bayonne Bridge and the Outerbridge Crossing will also strengthen efforts by the Port Authority to identify and prosecute drivers who repeatedly evade tolls.

The Port Authority’s $10 million investment in the technology at its Staten Island crossings will bring the total number of readers at the agency’s Staten Island crossings to 40, including 24 new readers at the Bayonne Bridge and Outerbridge Crossing.

The Port Authority expects the installation of the readers at the agency’s remaining two Staten Island crossings by the end of 2026. The Port Authority and the New York Police Department (NYPD) previously collaborated on the installation of license plate readers at the George Washington Bridge and the Holland and Lincoln tunnels.

“We have a responsibility to help our brothers and sisters in law enforcement secure and patrol the communities where our facilities are hosted and where our crossings connect with the various links of the regional transportation network,” said Port Authority Chairman Kevin O’Toole. “This crime-fighting technology has proven itself to be invaluable across myriad types of investigations, and we are proud to assist wherever we can to keep our facilities and our neighbors safe.”

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In 2023, New York state and city police arrested nearly 11,200 drivers and impounded their cars. The NYPD also seized more than 21,200 additional vehicles and issued motorists more than 21,200 moving violation summonses.

“Every time we take one of these vehicles across the road, we are taking off a potential person who is going to commit a serious felony or violent act,” said Mayor Adams, who said that the crackdown on ghost cars and plates is helping his successful efforts to drive down car theft and other major crimes.

In the past, many readers pointed out that there is an ongoing issue in Williamsburg, Crown Heights and Flatbush, at the outskirts of the communities in the vicinity of the NYCHA Housing Projects and Government Funded Public Housing, lately, there has been an abundance of parked vehicles with counterfeit, fraudulent paper license plates many which happen to also be expired. As well as an increase of abandoned and derelict vehicles on the outer streets of the communities; some of the vehicles are suspected of being used for prior crimes.

At the request of many Boro Park Community Askunim, The NYPD 66th Precinct and DSNY Sanitation Department has been tagging then towing abandoned and derelict vehicles in the neighborhood.