FYI: A group advocating placing tolls on East River bridges to help close the budget gap argues that Census data shows regular users of the bridges make more money, on average, than their neighbors and thus the tolls don’t represent a regressive tax. Using year 2000 Census data from Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, the Bridge Tolls Advocacy Project’s report (a revised version of its earlier study) argues that 98 percent of city residents of driving age don’t use the bridge to go to work daily. The two percent who do use the bridge every day, the study states, make an average of just over $53,000 a year, while those not using it daily make an average of just over $39,000 a year. [4/2/03]