Yay or Nay to Tolls on the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges?
If transit group Move NY has its way, moving between boroughs via car will become dramatically more expensive. The group is pushing to revive its failed plan to charge a toll of $5.54 in each direction when crossing the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges. (The plan also calls for a toll on the Queensboro Bridge,…
If transit group Move NY has its way, moving between boroughs via car will become dramatically more expensive. The group is pushing to revive its failed plan to charge a toll of $5.54 in each direction when crossing the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges. (The plan also calls for a toll on the Queensboro Bridge, as well as crossing 60th Street in Manhattan or taking the West Side Highway or FDR, and to lower tolls slightly where they already exist.) What do you think of the idea?
Transit Group Would Add Tolls to Four New York Bridges [NY Times]
Proposal to Add Tolls on Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg Bridges [Eagle]
Photo by Anne Holmes
“Don’t shoot the messenger”, as you like to say:
http://taxfoundation.org/article/gasoline-taxes-and-user-fees-pay-only-half-state-local-road-spending
http://taxfoundation.org/blog/statelocal-road-spending-covered-user-fees-user-taxes-categories-separated-out
http://www.frontiergroup.org/reports/fg/do-roads-pay-themselves
http://usa.streetsblog.org/2013/01/23/drivers-cover-just-51-percent-of-u-s-road-spending/
Yes, they do. And by cost of driving I’m referring to the cost of road upkeep. NY’s high gas taxes, registration fees, sales taxes as they relate to new car sales, etc., are more than enough to provide basic upkeep of the roads (no, we don’t need a new project every two years ago). That Albany has been raiding the pot to make up for shortfalls in other areas doesn’t change this point.
Gas taxes are among the lowest in the industrialized world (the federal gas tax hasn’t increased since 1992!) and the fact you complain about them is further evidence of your entitlement.
The city and the state go “massively into debt” to build totally necessary projects that spur economic development and enhance mobility (such as the second avenue subway and the 7 line extension) because gutless politicians put these projects on a credit card to avoid offending their short-sighted constituents like you.
Also, the idea that “basic fares” yield a “fortune” sufficient to pay for infrastructure upgrades (like CrossRail in London) is a fantasy. Fares would have to rise to sky-high levels to pay for that. Transit is a public good that should be supported by all of its beneficiaries, especially car drivers who impose their pollution, congestion and wear and tear costs on the rest of us and benefit hugely from transit taking other drivers off the road (without the MTA, NYC would be impassable).
I dream of such a day… (standing ovation)
What state is on the verge of bankruptcy? I work in public finance and I’m interested to know which one.
Don’t shoot the messenger: http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/jul/07/100-most-congested-cities-europe-north-america. A simple Google search will bring up multiple other articles naming Lomdon as most congested.
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And I was just there in January. Things are as bad as the article states. True, bus routes run smoother and quicker, but that is largely due to the fact that most bus routes, where physically feasible, are located on dedicated bus lanes; you’d get that result with or without congestion pricing. I’m not opposed to such a plan here either, and we already have designated bus lanes across NYC, though the program can be expanded.
You can’t exempt cabs from paying tolls. That pretty much would be illegal.
Congestion pricing hasn’t eased congestion in London. Don’t shoot the messenger here. As far as providing funding to support public transportation, London already made a fortune from basic fares from local residents and tourists alike. That they needed additional funds to bail out projecs the city was working on but couldn’t afford is ridiculous and shows how fiscally irresponsible they are. Similarly, driving in NYC is a privilege, not a right, and it’s a privilege drivers pay for with high gas taxes, tolls, registration fees, etc. We shouldn’t be forced to pony up any more because the city/state have been fiscally irresponsible, approving projects they can’t afford and then going massively into debt . Give me a break.
it’s already been done in London, Stockholm and Singapore. The technology would be easy to implement, especially now that it has been tested in other big cities.