Congestion Pricing Defeat a Win for the Boroughs?
The Times is describing the death of congestion pricing behind closed doors in Albany yesterday as something of a victory for Brooklyn and Queens, since the plan “was strongly opposed by a broad array of politicians from Queens, Brooklyn and New York’s suburbs, who viewed the proposed congestion fee as a regressive measure that overwhelmingly…
The Times is describing the death of congestion pricing behind closed doors in Albany yesterday as something of a victory for Brooklyn and Queens, since the plan “was strongly opposed by a broad array of politicians from Queens, Brooklyn and New York’s suburbs, who viewed the proposed congestion fee as a regressive measure that overwhelmingly benefited affluent Manhattanites.” Brooklyn City Councilmembers were clearly divided on the issue: Last week nine voted against the measure and seven voted for it. It remains to be seen now whether the residential parking permits initiative, which was contingent upon congestion pricing legislation passing, is also dead for the foreseeable future. Whether or not the defeat was a win for Brooklyn and the other boroughs, it was obviously a bruising loss for Mayor Mike. The mayor issued a statement that says, in part: “Today is a sad day for New Yorkers and a sad day for New York City. Not only won’t we see the realization of a plan that would have cut traffic, spurred our economy, reduced pollution and improved public health, we will also lose out on nearly $500 million annually for mass transit improvements and $354 million in immediate federal funds…It takes true leadership and courage to embrace new concepts and ideas and to be willing to try something. Unfortunately, both are lacking in the Assembly today. If that wasn’t shameful enough, it takes a special type of cowardice for elected officials to refuse to stand up and vote their conscience on an issue that has been debated, and amended significantly to resolve many outstanding issues, for more than a year.” Most of the dailies have stories about how Bloomberg played a hand in the bill’s defeat by using hardball tactics with legislators. The Times notes that “many opponents said they resented the pressure and threats that they said emanated from Mr. Bloomberg’s side, including hints that the mayor would back primary candidates to run against politicians who opposed congestion pricing.”
$8 Traffic Fee for Manhattan Gets Nowhere [NY Times]
It’s (Apparently) Official: Congestion Pricing Is Dead [Streetsblog]
Bloomberg Unleashes Fury as Silver Halts Congestion Pricing [NY Daily News]
Mayor’s Duck Is Looking A Bit Lame [NY Sun]
Nine Bklyn Councilmembers Vote Against Congest Fee [Brownstoner]
Mayor Rolls Out Resident Parking Permit Proposal [Brownstoner]
Photo by neysapranger.
11:17
1: the first problem is CP doesnt target bad drivers at all, it targets everyone and penalizes everyone, regardless of their choice of vehicle (all-electric?), purpose (services? deliveries? emergencies?), or otherwise.
2: We already have the means to tax out of state drivers, we already DO… CP is about putting a toll on CITY BRIDGES… or are you one of the manhetten elitists who think of brooklyn/queens/bronx/SI/Uptown as being “out of-state”?
3: i have consistently stated that there are many means by which we could encourage better vehicle choices… among them more DEDICATED lanes allocated to busses & bikes (carpools?, all-electrics?)
CP does NOTHING to FIX any of these problems, as you and i both desire… it just makes life more expensive AND oppresive in NYC.
11:08 After some thinking, that sounds like a much much better way to address the issue, and certainly far less restrictive & oppressive than cameras everywhere…
I still have some reservations on how it would effect people who need to park their cars in the city… (but they are unquestionably much much less likely to be poor)…
I would also work to tie such taxes to fuela econmy rebates and/or fully segmented bike lanes / express bus lanes… etc… The MTA is just a money hole.
in any case, its an improvement of lightyears over CP
11:01 says”10:36 you could put in for taxes in every conceivable place… if everyone wants less cars on the street and more green options then let everyone pay for it and thus reduce the burden to all, increase the city tax (based on income)… or real estate tax… increase a billion other forms of taxes.”
Brilliant – so what you propose is that city residents pay more taxes and LI, Westchester and NJ drivers as well as those non-NYC residents who come into NY and use our mass-transit pay ZERO increase.
Doesnt taxing the people who are using an environmentally unsound and congestion causing form of transportation subsidize the preferred transportation method (mass transit) make more sense? (especially when you consider the relative wealth of those drivers)
How about an eight dollar daily parking garage tax for those entering Manhattan parking garages between 5:00AM and 11:00AM, Monday to Friday? If that doesn’t reduce traffic, raise it to twelve dollars or fifteen dollars.
The tax would go directly to mass transit (there would be fewer car owners paying the current 18%(?) garage tax, but those who continued to use the garages would more than offset any lost revenue).
This way, the small businessperson or delivery guy who needs to park on the street for ten minutes won’t be hurt.
Sounds to easy. What am I missing?
10:36 you could put in for taxes in every conceivable place… if everyone wants less cars on the street and more green options then let everyone pay for it and thus reduce the burden to all, increase the city tax (based on income)… or real estate tax… increase a billion other forms of taxes.
Problem is everyone thinks charging manhatten drivers more WONT cost them anything, but all your food, services, item , and so forth will become more expensive… it just makes the city more expensive, and those costs come right back around. So lets not finance our improvements to the city by a measure that would ultimately turn NY into an even more oppressive place to live.
Also, if fully separated bike, bus, carpool and express bus lanes were put in place on ALL avenues (not terribly expensive at all), you’d see a huge spike in people taking public transport causing much less congestion & pollution which would give the MTA a huge jump in revenue (also allowing for a reduced fare or at least a flat one).
No matter how you slice it, CP doesnt FIX anything… it just charges people more while sneaking in a bunch of ugly consequences.
10:52, actually YES i have ridden a bike in NYC… many many many times… i was a messenger for a while.
did you miss the part that said “fully seperated”? that means a barrier to give bikers a full lane without obstruction.
i know people like you like to believe most people driving in NY are rich fat cats who deserve to be taxed… your WRONG.
Of course your right, a proposal that causes the poor to be further economically restrained to their homes and or areas, costs them MORE to move about freely, and institutes a universal network of cameras to watch their movements doesnt “limit freedoms” at all…. sheesh.
If I have to pay to use the subway, drivers should have to pay to use the streets. Anyone that thinks this is a regressive tax needs to look up the word regressive.
wow 10:41. no love for anyone. Where are we living, the gov can tell you what to do because you dont have a bank account? WHAT?
10:19, give me a break. You ever ridden a bike around NYC? (Since you’re so strongly against foreign oil, I imagine you must at least use your legs to get around). My experience as a bicyclist is the constant congestion at key areas, where cars literally idle while trying to get out of the city: Holland Tunnel, Queensboro, Midtown Tunnel, Will. Bridge, Manhattan Bridge. And check out those cars, will ya? What a fancy bunch of fat cats: Every other car’s an SUV — you’ve got your pick of Lexus, Benz etc. . . .
I can only imagine how congested it must be on the incoming side, in Jersey and Brooklyn and Queens.
Your statement that this proposal “limits the freedom of the lower classes” makes me gag, as I do every day on the fumes of the rich and spoilt.