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In addition, if you have the EZPass with the SI resident commuter plan, and you use the bridge more than 3 times in a month, you get back $0.50 per trip.
Many Staten Islanders do take public transportation at least once they reach Manhattan or anywhere off the Island. Some even take the SIRT or buses to the ferry or express buses into Manhattan or Brooklyn. However neither go every where and that is a big enough reason for some to drive.
Unlike most of the other four boroughs the Rock is very much a car culture. Has been and probably always will be due to the rural/suburban nature of the place. Public transportation on the North Shore is slightly better but there are many parts where buses either do not go to and or the nearest stop is miles away from your home. Thus many persons learn to drive early and it becomes a way of life.
If you work say on Wall Street or say Manhattan below Chelsea then driving into the City *may* not be such a hot option. But then again know plenty of nurses, NYPD, FDNY, DSNY, FBI, corrections, and other working/middle class persons (such as the guy who repairs the elevators in our building) that drive into the City and back as part of their daily commute.
Those who work either "off hour" shifts (evenings, nights) and or who tend to have erratic schedules also tend to drive to work from SI. Outside of rush hours traffic once you get out of the Manhattan isn't *that* bad say on the FDR-Gowanus, or NJT so you can commute door to door often in less time than taking mass transit. Plus you can do so in comfort and your own schedule. That is if you want to stop and shop/eat you can do so and then keep on keeping on.
If you have EZPASS and register your vehicle with a commuter plan, it's 6 bucks a toll. And I think the toll otherwise is $15.
The tolls are a gift and a curse...the gift is that it keeps out the riff raff.
AND, you must be a Staten Island Resident......
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