This has been an on going issue in New York city for over a year. It’s had many revisions and names which don’t reflect the true nature of the project (Bloomberg’s pet project being probably the latest). The concept for those outside of New York is this:
New York congestion pricing is a proposed traffic congestion fee for vehicles traveling into or within the Manhattan central business district of New York City. A small part of Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC 2030: A Greener, Greater New York which is designed for the sustainability of New York City through 2030, planning for population and job growth and well as sustained standards of living (originally outlined in April 2007).
The congestion pricing plan cites comparable congestion pricing programs in London, Singapore and Stockholm already in place and would be the first such plan in the US.
As proposed, the congestion pricing zone is defined as the island of Manhattan (bordered by the East and Hudson Rivers) south of 60th Street (“Central park South” but was originally 96th Street). Provisions were made for free zones (the FDR Drive, New York Route 9A (West Side Highway and Henry Hudson Parkway included), the Battery Park Underpass, and the East River bridges). The charge would apply during business hours on weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Proposed fees would be $8 for cars and commercial vehicles and $21 for trucks entering from outside the zone. Transit buses, emergency vehicles, taxis and for-hire vehicles, and vehicles with handicapped license plates would not be charged the fee. Taxi and livery trips that begin, end or touch the zone would have a $1 surcharge. Vehicles would be charged only once per day.
The pros for this were:
- Federal money allocated to New York for improved public transportation, reduction of auto traffic and congestion resulting in expedition of timely arrivals, and significant reduction of greenhouse gases and smog in Manhattan.
The objections of the plan (many of these by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver who opposed the plan and was able to kill it):
- Congestion pricing would create “parking lots” in the outer boroughs and in NJ for people attempting to avoid paying additional money. This would result in more traffic and pollution to those neighborhoods. The plan would reduce traffic in Manhattan’s central business district, but no where else in the city, especially neighborhoods with high asthma rates such as Harlem, the South Bronx, and Bedford-Stuyvesant would not benefit from the plan. The installation of cameras for tracking purposes may also raise civil liberties concerns.
As a resident of Manhattan, the congestion pricing plan may only be a benefit to me in that when taking a cab, I may save a few minutes on my commute. Typically I take the train anyway so this wouldn’t effect me, however, with more people needing cabs and taking trains, this may create a situation where it’s harder for me to get a cab, and with more riders on the subways, the opportunities for delays go up also. What was not publicized much was that the taxi rates would go up again (a $1 surcharge) which would add costs to my commute.
I definitely oppose the installation on hundreds of cameras for “transit” surveillance purposes but I don’t buy the point that this effects the poor working class, because the people that can afford cars and commute to the city are definitely not poor working class – those are the ones that already park their cars at a outer borough subway stop and take the train or bus anyway.
The biggest congestion factor is the delivery trucks and their consequently parallel parking which cause slowed traffic and delays. By forcing a $21 surcharge, this will not deter the number of trucks in the city – this delivery cost will only be transfered to the customers and create higher cost of goods in Manhattan.
Thus I agree with Silver and the blocking of this congestion pricing. The pros to do this (for the money and limit pollution) are week and selfish to the Bloomberg administration. The MTA should already be forced to upgrade their transit offerings, and where the hell is this infamous 2nd Ave Subway going to get put in…
What I can foresee the end result of the congestion pricing and the added ridership will be something like the end scene to the Crocodile Dundee movie when Mick is trying to reach Sue in the subway, only 24×7 or something like this:
Or worse… get to this [click through for video]
BTW those are shot on the Yamanote subway line that circles Tokyo, Japan. The Line carries 3.5+ million passengers a day. Here’s an interesting video tour of the line (if someone knows the D&B track in this, please let me know):
Fortunately they acted quickly and the operation was a success! As a result of the attack, JL does suffer from neural damage which has paralyzed his right hand, however, with days of therapy we’re hoping that he will regain full use of it in the near future. Unfortunately, this isn’t guaranteed and is more hopeful than anything else. He is is good spirits, and we all made sure to keep conversations light and friendly to keep him from stressing about his situation.