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(The following story by Ken Belson appeared on the New York Times website on November 16.)

NEW YORK — The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said today that it has proposed eliminating discounts for customers who use EZ-Pass during peak hours on its crossings between New Jersey and Manhattan and Staten Island.

Those drivers, and customers with cash, will pay $8 to cross the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels, the George Washington Bridge and other bridges in Staten Island. Drivers using EZ-Pass during peak hours currently pay $5 while customers with cash pay $6.

To ease traffic during the most congested hours of the day, drivers with an EZ-Pass will pay $6 during off-peak hours.

Customers with low-emission vehicles will pay $4 and will have to register their cars to receive a special green EZ-Pass. The toll increases are the first by the agency since 2001.

“The goal is instead of having these big jumps in tolls every seven years, to have more predictable adjustments instead of making them high drama each times,” said Anthony Shorris, the executive director of the Port Authority.

A schedule for public hearings will be announced in the next week.

The Port Authority today also set aside $100 million to entirely eliminate toll booths, a process that will take about five years. About 85 percent of drivers using its crossings during peak hours already use EZ-Pass.

Daily PATH commuters who use the 20- or 40-ride fare card will see an increase from $1.20 to $1.50 per ride, a steeper discount than is currently offered. Cash fares would increase from $1.50 to $2 per trip.

The toll and fare increases, which are expected to generate about $300 million a year, will be used to help finance bonds for the construction of a second passenger rail tunnel under the Hudson River to Pennsylvania Station.

The agency plans to spend $3 billion toward construction of the tunnel, which is expected to cost about $8 billion and to be completed by 2016. The $3 billion, along with $1 billion from New Jersey’s Transportation Trust Fund, will provide half the money for the project, a benchmark that has to be reached to obtain federal matching funds.

The new tunnel will allow twice as many Amtrak and New Jersey Transit trains to enter Penn Station, relieving bottlenecks and permitting expanded service.

Last year, the Port Authority unveiled a $26 billion capital plan, which over 10 years would expand the region’s airports, ports and rail networks, and help rebuild the World Trade Center. By promising to spend more on the Trans-Hudson tunnel and several other projects, the size of the capital plan has grown to $29.5 billion.