Report faults Port Authority over toll practices

A new government report has faulted the way the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey implemented toll increases two years ago.

The report released by the Government Accountability Office concluded that the Port Authority didn’t give the public enough opportunity to review and comment on the proposed increases.

Public hearings were held on one day, three days before the hikes were to take effect. The GAO report also found the Port Authority didn’t provide the public with an adequate explanation the toll increases.

The Port Authority told the report’s authors that it did provide the public sufficient opportunities to comment.

Cash tolls on the authority’s four crossings into New York City were raised 50 percent, from $8 to $12, in September 2011, the first of several scheduled increases.