New York congestion pricing - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

New York congestion pricing
Congestion pricing
Congestion pricing or congestion charges is a system of surcharging users of a transport network in periods of peak demand to reduce traffic congestion. Examples include some toll-like road pricing fees, and higher peak charges for utilities, public transport and slots in canals and airports...

was a proposed traffic congestion

Traffic congestion

Traffic congestion is a condition on road networks that occurs as use increases, and is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. The most common example is the physical use of roads by vehicles. When traffic demand is great enough that the interaction...

fee for vehicles traveling into or within the Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

central business district of New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. The congestion pricing

Congestion pricing

Congestion pricing or congestion charges is a system of surcharging users of a transport network in periods of peak demand to reduce traffic congestion. Examples include some toll-like road pricing fees, and higher peak charges for utilities, public transport and slots in canals and airports...

charge was one component of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Michael Bloomberg

Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...

's plan to improve the city's future environmental sustainability

Sustainability

Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...

while planning for population growth, entitled PlaNYC 2030
PlaNYC
PlaNYC is an effort released by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2007 to prepare the city for one million more residents, strengthen the economy, combat climate change, and enhance the quality of life for all New Yorkers. The Plan brought together over 25 City agencies to work toward the...

: A Greener, Greater New York. If approved and implemented, it would have been the first such fee scheme enacted in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Nonetheless the proposal did not succeed as it was never put to a vote on the Assembly

New York State Assembly

The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...

History

Mayor Bloomberg's goals for long-term sustainability through the year 2030 were first announced on December 12, 2006. On April 22, 2007 (Earth Day

Earth Day

Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment. The name and concept of Earth Day was allegedly pioneered by John McConnell in 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco. The first Proclamation of Earth Day was by San Francisco, the...

), PlaNYC 2030 was unveiled. Along with transportation initiatives, the plan outlined steps to clean up brownfields, create affordable housing, utilize open spaces, provide cleaner and more reliable and efficient energy sources, improve water quality and infrastructure, achieve cleaner air quality, and address climate change issues. The transportation initiatives support greater use of mass transit

Mass transit in New York City

New York City's public transportation network is the most extensive in North America. About one in every three users of mass transit in the United States and two-thirds of the nation's rail riders are residents of New York City, or its suburbs. Data from the 2000 U.S...

through various improvements and additions to transit infrastructure and services. In addition, the initiatives also include increased use of cycling

Cycling

Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...

, expanded ferry services, increased traffic violation enforcement, and installations of Muni Meter

Muni Meter

Muni Meter is the name used by the New York City Department of Transportation for its pay and display centralized parking meter system. The Muni Meter system was introduced broadly in 2009, following a period of experimentation that began in 1999. Muni Meters are located on streets adjacent to a...

s and an intelligent transportation system

Intelligent transportation system

The term intelligent transportation systems refers to information and communication technology that improve transport outcomes such as transport safety, transport productivity, travel reliability, informed travel choices, social equity, environmental performance and network operation...

.

Of the 16 proposed transportation initiatives in PlaNYC, the congestion pricing program is the only component that has to be approved by the New York State Legislature

New York Legislature

The New York State Legislature is the term often used to refer to the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York. The New York Constitution does not designate an official term for the two houses together...

with financial support from the State; the remainder is within New York City's or its regional jurisdiction and is to be funded by a new Sustainable Mobility and Regional Transportation Financing Authority, which would also take in revenue from the congestion fees, estimated at $380 million.

New York City applied to be part of the United States Department of Transportation

United States Department of Transportation

The United States Department of Transportation is a federal Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with transportation. It was established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966, and began operation on April 1, 1967...

's Urban Partnership Program, which would allocate money to cities that were willing to fight urban traffic congestion through tolling

Toll road

A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...

programs, express bus

Express bus

An express bus service is a bus service that is intended to run faster than normal bus services between the same two commuter points....

services or bus rapid transit

Bus rapid transit

Bus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...

, telecommuting

Telecommuting

Telecommuting or telework is a work arrangement in which employees enjoy flexibility in working location and hours. In other words, the daily commute to a central place of work is replaced by telecommunication links...

, or technologies designed for the purpose. In June 2007, U.S. Secretary of Transportation

United States Secretary of Transportation

The United States Secretary of Transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation, a member of the President's Cabinet, and fourteenth in the Presidential line of succession. The post was created with the formation of the Department of Transportation on October 15, 1966,...

Mary Peters

Mary Peters (politician)

Mary E. Peters served as the United States Secretary of Transportation under President George W. Bush from 2006 to 2009. She is the second woman to hold the position.-Public service career:...

said that out of the nine finalist cities applying for the program, New York City was the farthest along in its traffic reduction planning and the city was eligible for up to $500 million for funding the congestion pricing plan. Since the final funding decision would be announced in August, Peters wrote in a letter to Governor Eliot Spitzer

Eliot Spitzer

Eliot Laurence Spitzer is an American lawyer, former Democratic Party politician, and political commentator. He was the co-host of In the Arena, a talk-show and punditry forum broadcast on CNN until CNN cancelled his show in July of 2011...

that if state approval was not met by July 16, "it is unlikely that New York City would be selected." Although a commitment was not established by that date, on July 19, the State legislature approved the creation of a 17-member commission that will study different plans to reduce traffic in the city, including congestion pricing. Signed by Spitzer on July 27, the bill authorized New York to apply for at least $200 million in federal funds.

On August 14, 2007, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded from the Urban Partnership program $354 million to New York City. It was the largest of the five grants awarded to cities, which included San Francisco

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

, King County, Washington

King County, Washington

King County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population in the 2010 census was 1,931,249. King is the most populous county in Washington, and the 14th most populous in the United States....

(Seattle

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

), the Minneapolis

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...

area, and Miami

Miami, Florida

Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...

. Only $10.4 million is allocated for launching the congestion pricing program and $2 million for research. The rest of the grant will fund transportation infrastructure and services: $213.6 million to improve and build new bus depots, $112.7 million to develop bus rapid transit routes, and $15.8 million for expanded ferry

Ferry

A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

services.

The idea of congestion pricing was endorsed by the then Governor Spitzer, Senate

New York State Senate

The New York State Senate is one of two houses in the New York State Legislature and has members each elected to two-year terms. There are no limits on the number of terms one may serve...

Majority Leader Joseph Bruno

Joseph Bruno

Joseph L. Bruno is an American businessman, and Republican politician. He was the Temporary President of the New York State Senate and its majority leader. Most recently he also served as Lieutenant Governor of New York ....

, and other New York City politicians, such as City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer

Scott Stringer

Scott M. Stringer is a New York Democratic politician and currently the 26th Borough President of Manhattan.-Life and career:...

,, and Representative Joseph Crowley

Joseph Crowley

Joseph Crowley is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1999. He is the Chairman of the New Democrat Coalition and the Queens County Democratic Party. He is a member of the Democratic Party....

of Queens and the Bronx, as well as the U.S. Department of Transportation. Assembly

New York State Assembly

Speaker Sheldon Silver

Sheldon Silver

Sheldon "Shelly" Silver is an American lawyer and Democratic politician from New York. He has held the office of Speaker of the New York State Assembly since 1994.- Personal life :...

and other politicians expressed skepticism about the plan, raising several questions about its viability, its environmental effects on neighborhoods bordering the congestion zone, the lack of state control in Bloomberg's proposal, and the imposition of a regressive tax

Regressive tax

A regressive tax is a tax imposed in such a manner that the tax rate decreases as the amount subject to taxation increases. "Regressive" describes a distribution effect on income or expenditure, referring to the way the rate progresses from high to low, where the average tax rate exceeds the...

on some commuters.

On January 31, 2008, the New York City Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission approved a plan for congestion pricing

Congestion pricing

, which was passed by a vote of 13 to 2. Some changes over Mayor Bloomberg

Michael Bloomberg

Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...

's original proposal were introduced, such as reducing the congestion zone, no charges for vehicles which stay within the zone, and a discount for low-emission trucks. The commission estimated that revenues from the congestion charge will generate $491 million a year, which would be committed to improve and expand the region's mass transit. The proposal was approved by the New York City Council on March 31, 2008 by a vote of 30 to 20. Other alternative considered by the commission, and promoted by Assemblyman Richard Brodsky

Richard Brodsky

Richard Brodsky is an American politician who represented District 92 in the New York State Assembly, which includes the towns of Greenburgh and Mount Pleasant, the villages of Ardsley, Elmsford, Dobbs Ferry, Hastings-on-Hudson, Irvington, Tarrytown, as well as parts of Briarcliff and Yonkers,...

, was to restrict access into the congestion zone one day a week based on the last digits of the license plates. This sort of road space rationing

Road space rationing

Road space rationing is a travel demand management strategy aimed to reduce the negative externalities generated by peak urban travel demand in excess of available supply or road capacity, through artificially restricting demand by rationing the scarce common good road capacity, especially...

system is currently practiced in two of the world's Top 10 megacities, São Paulo

São Paulo

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

and Mexico City

Mexico City

Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

. Bloomberg's plan was endorsed by the then new Governor David Paterson

David Paterson

David Alexander Paterson is an American politician who served as the 55th Governor of New York, from 2008 to 2010. During his tenure he was the first governor of New York of African American heritage and also the second legally blind governor of any U.S. state after Bob C. Riley, who was Acting...

, whose support was considered key to approve the bill in Albany.

The deadline to approve the plan by the State Assembly was April 7, 2008, for the city to be eligible to receive US$ 354 million in federal assistance for traffic congestion relief and mass transit improvements. On April 7, 2008, after a closed-door meeting, the Democratic Conference of the State Assembly decided not to vote on the proposal, "...the opposition was so overwhelming,...that he would not hold an open vote of the full Assembly," Sheldon Silver

Sheldon Silver

Sheldon "Shelly" Silver is an American lawyer and Democratic politician from New York. He has held the office of Speaker of the New York State Assembly since 1994.- Personal life :...

, the Assembly Speaker said. Afterwards, the USDOT announced that they will seek to allocate those funds to relief traffic congestion in other cities.

Ironically, by July 2008, gasoline prices of over $4.00 a gallon caused a dramatic 5 percent drop in vehicle trips into lower Manhattan, realizing goals that Bloomberg had envisioned for his congestion pricing scheme. This finding vindicated the plan's premise that higher driving costs would in fact reduce congestion, while at the same time rendering the plan completely unnecessary, at least while fuel prices stayed high.

Bloomberg's 2008 proposal

New York's proposal cites comparable congestion pricing programs in London

London congestion charge

The London congestion charge is a fee charged for some categories of motor vehicle to travel at certain times within the Congestion Charge Zone , a traffic area in London. The charge aims to reduce congestion, and raise investment funds for London's transport system...

, Singapore and Stockholm

Stockholm congestion tax

The Stockholm congestion tax , also found referred to as the Stockholm congestion charge, is a congestion pricing system implemented as a tax levied on most vehicles entering and exiting central Stockholm, Sweden...

. New York City's program is proposed to be a three-year pilot program, at the end of which the City and State would decide if the program should be made permanent. When final legislative approval is given, the program could be put into effect within 18 months.

As proposed, the congestion pricing zone is defined as the island of Manhattan

Manhattan

(bordered by the East

East River

The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...

and Hudson

Hudson River

The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...

Rivers) south of 60th Street (originally 86th Street but changed after the commission's recommendation released on January 10, 2008.) Exempted roadways within the zone include the FDR Drive, New York Route 9A

New York State Route 9A

New York State Route 9A is a state highway in the vicinity of New York City, New York, United States. Its southern terminus is at the northern end of the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel in New York City, where it intersects with both Interstate 478 and FDR Drive. The northern terminus of...

(West Side Highway

West Side Highway

The West Side Highway is a mostly surface section of New York State Route 9A that runs from West 72nd Street along the Hudson River to the southern tip of Manhattan. It replaced the West Side Elevated Highway, built between 1929 and 1951, which was shut down in 1973 due to neglect and lack of...

and Henry Hudson Parkway

Henry Hudson Parkway

The Henry Hudson Parkway is an long parkway in New York City. The southern terminus is at West 72nd Street in Manhattan, where the parkway continues south as the West Side Highway. It is often erroneously referred to as the West Side Highway throughout its entire course in Manhattan...

included), the Battery Park Underpass

Battery Park Underpass

The Battery Park Underpass was the second section of Manhattan's Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive to be completed, opening to the public in April 1951...

, and the East River bridges (Queensboro Bridge

Queensboro Bridge

The Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, also known as the 59th Street Bridge – because its Manhattan end is located between 59th and 60th Streets – or simply the Queensboro Bridge, is a cantilever bridge over the East River in New York City that was completed in 1909...

, Williamsburg Bridge

Williamsburg Bridge

The Williamsburg Bridge is a suspension bridge in New York City across the East River connecting the Lower East Side of Manhattan at Delancey Street with the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn at Broadway near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway...

, Manhattan Bridge

Manhattan Bridge

The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan with Brooklyn . It was the last of the three suspension bridges built across the lower East River, following the Brooklyn and the Williamsburg bridges...

and Brooklyn Bridge

Brooklyn Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...

) and their approaches. A free route from the East River bridges to the FDR Drive and from the Lincoln

Lincoln Tunnel

The Lincoln Tunnel is a long tunnel under the Hudson River, connecting Weehawken, New Jersey and the borough of Manhattan in New York City.-History:...

and Holland

Holland Tunnel

The Holland Tunnel is a highway tunnel under the Hudson River connecting the island of Manhattan in New York City with Jersey City, New Jersey at Interstate 78 on the mainland. Unusual for an American public works project, it is not named for a government official, politician, or local hero or...

Tunnels to Route 9A would be designated. Drivers who use toll crossings to or from the zone (e.g. Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel

Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel

Interstate 478s entire length consists of the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel and its approaches. Its south end is at Interstate 278, and its north end is at NY 9A ....

and Queens-Midtown Tunnel) would be charged the difference between the toll and the congestion charge.

The charge would apply 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 vehicle

Vehicle for hire

thumb|190px|[[Taxicab]]s in [[New York City]]thumb|190px|right|[[Cycle rickshaw|Velotaxi]] in [[New York City]]A vehicle for hire is a vehicle providing shared transportation, which transports one or more passengers between locations of the passengers' choice .Vehicles for hire can be distinguished...

s, and vehicles with handicapped license

Handicapped tag

- What is a Handicapped Tag :A handicapped tag or handicapped placard is a placard or license plate, permitting the owner or operator of a vehicle to special privileges regarding the parking of that vehicle, including the privilege to park in a space reserved for persons with disabilities, or in...

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.

Operations for monitoring vehicles within the congestion zone will be barrier-free and includes E-ZPass

E-ZPass

E-ZPass is an electronic toll-collection system used on most tolled roads, bridges, and tunnels in the northeastern US, south to Virginia and West Virginia, and west to Illinois. Currently, there are 25 agencies spread across 14 states that make up the . All member agencies use the same technology,...

transponders and a license plate recognition system that involves cameras. The system for monitoring congestion pricing will be made separate from existing red-light camera systems. Drivers would be able to pay by a debit from their E-ZPass account or a debit from a pre-paid non-EZPass account linked to the vehicle's license plate number. For drivers without traffic payment accounts, they would have 48 hours to pay via phone, the Internet, text messaging, or cash transactions at participating retailers.

The accelerated MTA Capital Plan for 2008-2013 details transit investments that revenue from congestion pricing would pay for. These include 44 subway station rehabilitations, increased bus service, new Bus Rapid Transit service in all 5 boroughs,$40 million for suburban park and ride facilities, MetroNorth and LIRR station rehabilitations, third track work, East Side Access, Second Avenue Subway, and Fulton Street Transit Center, to name a few.

In addition to charging drivers, there have been additional proposals to further reduce traffic. One proposal from Sam Schwartz

Sam Schwartz

Samuel I. Schwartz, a.k.a. Gridlock Sam, is one of the leading transportation engineers in the United States, and is widely believed to be the man responsible for popularizing the phrase gridlock. Educated at Brooklyn College and the University of Pennsylvania, he originally worked as a cabbie...

recommends removing tolls from the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge

Verrazano-Narrows Bridge

The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge that connects the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City at the Narrows, the reach connecting the relatively protected upper bay with the larger lower bay....

to encourage trucks en route from Long Island to New Jersey to use Interstate 278

Interstate 278

Interstate 278 is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in New Jersey and New York, United States. The road runs from U.S. Route 1/9 in Linden, New Jersey to the Bruckner Interchange in the New York City borough of the Bronx...

through Staten Island and over a proposed twin-span Goethals Bridge

Goethals Bridge

The Goethals Bridge connects Elizabeth, New Jersey to Staten Island , near the Howland Hook Marine Terminal, Staten Island, New York over the Arthur Kill. Operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the span was one of the first structures built by the authority...

, as opposed to using the now toll-free route via the Manhattan Bridge

Manhattan Bridge

, congesting Manhattan's local streets, and out the Lincoln

Lincoln Tunnel

The Lincoln Tunnel is a long tunnel under the Hudson River, connecting Weehawken, New Jersey and the borough of Manhattan in New York City.-History:...

or Holland Tunnel

Holland Tunnel

s. Furthermore, he suggests that government parking passes be limited; the number of taxis be reduced dramatically; and the Belt Parkway

Belt Parkway

The Belt System is a series of connected limited-access highways that form a belt-like circle around the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. The system comprises four officially separate parkways; however, three of the four are signed as the Belt Parkway...

be redesigned to allow commercial traffic to reduce congestion on Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

's local streets.

Reaction

The Campaign for New York's Future

Campaign for New York's Future

The Campaign for New York's Future is a coalition of civic, business, environmental, labor, community and public health organizations that supports the goals and strategic direction of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s sustainability proposal, PlaNYC 2030....

, a coalition of over 150 civic, business, environmental, labor, community and public health organizations that support the goals and strategic direction of PlaNYC, supported congestion pricing throughout the political discussion. They argued that the plan would reduce road congestion, shorten commutes, reduce air pollution, and raise funds for long-term mass transit upgrades.

The Tri-State Transportation Campaign

Tri-State Transportation Campaign

The Tri-State Transportation Campaign is a non-profit advocacy and policy organization dedicated to reducing car and truck dependency and promoting a "more balanced, environmentally sound and equitable transportation network" in downstate New York, New Jersey and Connecticut...

, a member of the Campaign for New York's Future, released an analysis of Census data showing that the vast majority (approx. 93-99%) of workers in the MTA service area, and in individual legislative districts, did not drive to work in Manhattan. TSTC argued that the data showed that congestion pricing was progressive policy.

A March, 2008 Quinnipiac poll found that New York City voters supported Congestion Pricing 67 - 27 if the money were used for mass transit improvements, and statewide voters supported the plan 60 - 30, although the majority of New Yorkers were unaware that a $1 taxi surcharge was included in the plan. Then-presidential candidate Barack Obama, scores of city and state legislators, as well as community leaders openly expressed support for the plan.

New York State Assembly

New York State Assembly

Speaker Sheldon Silver

Sheldon Silver

Sheldon "Shelly" Silver is an American lawyer and Democratic politician from New York. He has held the office of Speaker of the New York State Assembly since 1994.- Personal life :...

opposed the plan, citing several issues. Since motorists would want to avoid the congestion pricing zone, he claimed they would choose to park in neighborhoods just outside the pricing zone. This, in turn, would allegedly create "parking lots" and add more traffic and pollution to those neighborhoods. Secondly, because the plan would reduce traffic in Manhattan's central business district, but, he thought, not necessarily elsewhere, neighborhoods with high asthma rates such as Harlem

Harlem

Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...

, the South Bronx

South Bronx

The South Bronx is an area of the New York City borough of The Bronx. The neighborhoods of Tremont, University Heights, Highbridge, Morrisania, Soundview, Hunts Point, and Castle Hill are sometimes considered part of the South Bronx....

, and Bedford-Stuyvesant would not benefit. The installation of cameras for tracking purposes might have raised civil liberties concerns. Silver stopped short of opposing the entire plan, and said he would continue to work toward an agreement.

Other opponents argued that the pricing could become a tax on middle- and lower-class residents, since those citizens would be affected the most financially. At the same time, higher-income commuters would not be turned off by paying the charges; thus the fee would not do much to discourage traffic into the congestion area.

In response to many of these issues, Bloomberg argued that a significant percentage of commuters would switch to public transportation, and most likely for all of their commute; thus cars would be taken off the road outside the Central Business District as well as within it. John Gallagher, a Bloomberg spokesman, also said that "toll shopping

Shunpiking

The term shunpiking comes from the word shun, meaning "to avoid", and pike, a term referring to turnpikes, which are roads that require payment of a toll to travel on them...

", a tendency for drivers to seek toll-free routes, will end as all commuters who go to the congestion zone will have to pay tolls.

On July 9, 2007 Assemblyman Richard Brodsky

Richard Brodsky

issued an adverse report, calling the proposal thoughtful and bold, but expressing skepticism on points including financial fairness and environmental impact

Environmental degradation

Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems and the extinction of wildlife...

.

It mentioned as insufficiently studied alternatives (though it did not recommend any of them):

Rationing
Road space rationing
Road space rationing is a travel demand management strategy aimed to reduce the negative externalities generated by peak urban travel demand in excess of available supply or road capacity, through artificially restricting demand by rationing the scarce common good road capacity, especially...
Better traffic enforcement
Time-of day pricing
Time-based pricing
Time-based pricing refers to a type offer or contract by a provider of a service or supplier of a commodity, in which the price depends on the time when the service is provided or the commodity is delivered. The rational background of time-based pricing is expected or observed change of the supply...

on mass transit
Taxes on gasoline, payroll, commuter, or stock transfer
Fees on City parking permits

Brodsky also called the proposal a "regressive tax" on the poor and middle class

Middle class

The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....

and harmful to citizens of New York City's outer boroughs.

Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free, a coalition of about 80 civic, business and labor organizations and businesses throughout the New York metropolitan area, proposed non-intrusive, low-cost traffic mitigation measures with some half billion dollars or more in incidental revenues as an alternative to the city's congestion pricing scheme that it argued would also qualify for the federal grant. It also recommended revenue measures that would raise nearly $1.8 billion to mass transit projects to induce less driving through better transit service.

Brooklyn and Queens strongly opposed the bill in the City Council, voting against it by a margin of nearly two to one. Brooklyn specifically becomes geographically isolated without access to its free bridges as Manhattan blocks its access to the mainland. A map of the council votes can be seen at http://www.brooklyn-living.com/brooklynpress.html. There have also been protests against congestion pricing at City Hall.

The City Council passed the bill, with the only "No" votes coming from Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, but on April 7, 2008, Speaker Silver announced that the Assembly would not vote on the measure. Shortly thereafter, most of the federal grant that was to have gone to New York City was awarded to Chicago for bus-only lanes and more buses, and Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

for high-occupancy toll lanes.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History

Bloomberg's 2008 proposal

Reaction

See also

External links