A new state commission charged with rescuing Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) finances recently trotted out an old idea. It wants to let the MTA toll its way out of its financial mess by charging higher tolls on existing facilities and putting new tolls on New York’s toll-free East River and Harlem River bridges. It also wants to go a step further by putting future toll and fare hikes on automatic pilot. Under its plan, toll and fare increases would occur regularly with no oversight.

The crux of the plan apparently rests on the notion that drivers don’t pay enough to support transit and should chip in much more to bail out the MTA. Proponents argue that it’s a “balanced” plan, but the truth is that drivers already pay a great deal to stabilize transit fares.