BY JANE WOODRUFF

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

As part of planned toll hikes the Port Authority is raising tolls at bridges and tunnels every December for the next three years, starting now.

Monday morning it will cost you $13 to cross into Manhattan during peak hours if you pay cash, $10.25 if you use EZPass.

The PA makes a 46.9 percent profit on its bridges and tunnels, according to an article in the New York Post. Motorists will have to dig deeper into their pockets when many of them are still struggling in the weak economy.

The PA claims that the money is necessary for security related issues, and for capital improvements to the roads and bridges. But a lawsuit filed by AAA in 2011 alleges that the money from the toll increases is going to fund the rebuilding of WTC site, which is costing $11 billion. AAA says that too much of the PA’s money is going to projects that don’t benefit motorists.

So far the lawsuit has not stopped the tolls from rising, but AAA will continue to try. Federal law requires tolls to be “just and reasonable.” Do you feel these tolls are fair?