London has successfully instituted congestion pricing for private vehicles, and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been trying very hard to do the same, but ran into stiff opposition from the public as well as political players.
New York magazine reports, however, that Bloomberg has just gained an important ally: New York’s new governor, David Paterson. According to New York:
Paterson’s former district hasn’t been sympathetic to the mayor’s congestion pricing plan — many fear Harlem will become a commuter parking lot — but with his first rough week, Paterson could use friends. “He needs an ally in the mayor,” says one source close to Bloomberg.
Now to convince the public. The compelling poster above appears on a bus stop about 20 yards north of 96th Street, the cutoff point for the congestion charge.
[CORRECTION: The proposed northern boundary for Manhattan congestion pricing is no longer 96th St.; it is now 60th St.]
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It’s simple: leave your car at home and you do not need to pay the fee. The “tax” is completely optional.
As a NYC dweller, i love the tax and am just dissapointed it won’t be applied all the way up to atleast 81st street.
The only people who will get hit by the tax are people who are wealthy enough to drive in. Or the people who feel that they are ‘entitled’ to the right to drive in, when public transport is a valid option. It will also reduce the impact the excess city parking permits in circulation will have on things.
I have one question regarding London vs. NY. Was London’s transit system at a 35 year high in terms of usage as NY’s transit system is?
And were the promised improvements that were to be made to London’s transit system only made after congestion pricing was instituted, thus propelling more people onto public transit before so-called improvements were made? Because in NY, we are pushing more people onto mass transit if CP is passed with no corresponding increase in capacity until CP starts to work.
If you think those subways and buses are crowded now well they are only going to get more crowded in the immediate future with the passage of CP. Also, as someone else pointed out, increased usage implies increased fares later on.
Some lose, some win. Those with money win. Also, Manhattan stands to gain the most from this while those outside Manhattan pay for it.
As an aside, the US embassy in London, as well as many others, but not all, refuses to pay the charge, claiming it is a tax, and so the embassy is exempt. The Mayor’s office argues that it is not a tax, but a charge for a service (less congestion). However, as I cannot claim a refund if I get caught in a traffic jam and they have failed to provide the service, I tend to favour the embassy’s view.
To #3 – would you provide me and other readers with the factual basis for your comments? It seems that London’s experience provides pretty strong evidence to support congestion pricing’s positive effects.
I’m an ex-pat livin’ in Berlin – and I’d have’ta agree with any tax that enhances public transit options, and decreases (largely superfluous) car traffic. Perhaps in 100 yrs. NYC will have a similarly snazzy (and all-encompassing) transit system as Berlin does – but it takes time and lotsa money. And they’ve been doing it since the 1870′s. Gov’t projects are not always bad – ‘specially things where private initiative jus’ is not interested. And the ‘Days of the Frontier’ are over ‘fellow’ ‘Merikins. Modern societies require an efficient state. Get used to it. And get one!
Auf wiedersehen from Berlin (and c’mon over here sometime and see how awesome public transport can be… – I haven’t driven in Germany since ’95).
I would be in favor of congestion pricing IF I thought the money would actually go to improving public transportation. My guess is that it won’t.
Second how many do they expect even more people to ride from the 96th St stop? It’s already about four rows deep in the morning. Personally I get on the 1 line at 231st stop. I always get a seat. But the train is always full before I even get to 125th St. The 96th st stop is already hell during the morning. There seems to be no plan in place to accomodate the massive influx of new people that will be riding in already overcrowded trains. Congestion pricing will make this infintely worse before any money actually comes in to make it better.
What about the $20 they plan to tax truckers? How much will this add to already high NYC retail prices? You can’t get those goods to the stores by bike messenger.
People who have cars and live below 96th st. (i.e. people who are already really really wealthy) get to magically skip out on this tax.
While admire the mayor’s attempt to think outside the box, this plan is poorly laid out at best. There’s plenty of congestion in the outer boroughs that will only get significantly worse (have fun on the BQE boys and girls), the economic costs are not fully examined and its questionable whether there would be any meaningful attempt to actually improve public transportation to meet with the increased demand.
I live in a neighborhood that will probably become a parking lot, but I still support congestion pricing. As a bicyclist, I want clearer, safer streets.