The Governor just bushed congestive pricing indefinitely ![wow :wow: :wow:](https://www.thecoli.com/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/wow.png)
![wow :wow: :wow:](https://www.thecoli.com/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/wow.png)
She is an awful governor.The Governor just bushed congestive pricing indefinitely![]()
She is an awful governor.
good vid on this:
The Governor just bushed congestive pricing indefinitely![]()
Nah I think they gonna keep those camera but they gonna change course and charge commercial vehicles (trucks and buses) along with yellow taxis and liveries(Uber, left etc).. That’s literally where the congestion is coming from..probably figured they'll bilk enough people with the dumb ass cameras
the optics on the congestion pricing were terrible, maybe after they deal with ghost cars at the bare minimum they can revisit this
I doubt this does her any favors with optics.meh I think the optics and special interest groups are more at play
price gouging workers and businesses in this economy could create a doom loop
this is also the NYPD/MTA's fault for the lawlessness re cars in the city running around with fake plates/expired tags etc for years in everyones faces
Gov. Kathy Hochul's decision to "indefinitely pause" congestion pricing in Manhattan is likely to reverberate for decades, much like the former New Jersey governor Chris Christie's decision in 2010 to block construction of a badly needed new rail tunnel under the Hudson River.
Both were short-term choices that pushed aside critical long-term investments in the most mass-transit-dependent metropolitan area of the nation. The decision by Mr. Christie, which he said was based on the project's cost, compromised the region's competitiveness, economy and environment. Ms. Hochul's could do the same.
Mr. Christie's move earned him the enmity of many New Jersey Transit commuters, who never know whether their trip to or from work will turn into a hellish, hourslong ordeal on tracks owned by Amtrak that have suffered from decades of underinvestment and compound New Jersey Transit's own problems. The plan he killed would have cost an estimated $12.4 billion and been completed by now. A project to build new tracks and another tunnel under the Hudson River is now underway, but it will take at least another decade and about $16 billion to complete.
Ms. Hochul's action raises questions about whether congestion pricing, which was set to begin at the end of the month, will ever happen. It will mean continued congestion on some of the world's most traffic-stymied streets and no relief from the air pollution from auto and truck exhaust. And it will leave the Metropolitan Transportation Authority without an expected $1 billion a year in toll revenue that the agency planned to use to secure $15 billion in bond financing for desperately needed improvements to the transit system.
This is not the right way to run the nation's largest mass transit agency.
Congestion pricing of course has its critics. Most automobile drivers would pay a fee of $15 during peak hours to drive into Manhattan south of 60th Street. But the idea had essentially universal support from environmentalists, transit advocates, economists and policy experts. The fee was expected to reduce traffic in the city's core by as many as 120,000 vehicles a day, significantly improve traffic congestion and reduce the exhaust that is fouling Manhattan's air.
London and Stockholm have had similar programs in place for decades. After implementation, London immediately saw a 20 percent reduction in carbon emissions and a 37 percent increase in bus transit use. The results in Stockholm were similar and that city also saw a nearly 50 percent reduction in childhood asthma cases. (Children in the Bronx suffer from one of the highest rates of asthma in the country.)
Under the New York plan, the toll revenue would underwrite a long list of critical investments to the city's mass transit system, including signals to allow subway trains to run faster and with fewer interruptions on several lines. It would help pay for 500 new buses, better access for disabled commuters at 40 subway stations, new bus depots in the Bronx, Staten Island and Brooklyn, and electric buses systemwide. And it would extend the Second Avenue Subway to 125th Street, build a new light rail line connecting Brooklyn and Queens and underwrite improvements for the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North.
Congestion pricing has always been controversial. What new tax or fee isn't? In Stockholm, public leaders held a referendum to determine whether the policy would continue or be canceled. Having seen the benefits with their own eyes, voters kept it in place.
Opposition to New York's congestion pricing plan fits into one of two categories. Some people said they agreed with the policy but had concerns about the details. Fair enough. It is a complicated program. Supporters always assumed that once it was put in place, it would be calibrated to respond to concerns. London has adjusted its program almost every other year to respond to changing needs.
Other critics opposed the plan, full stop. They don't offer solutions but defend a status quo that isn't working. They are the ones celebrating today.
Ms. Hochul has said she wants to postpone the program -- for how long she hasn't said -- because of the lingering economic impacts of the pandemic. But investing in transit and ending seemingly endless traffic headaches is exactly what our region needs to continue to recover. New York has been leading the way on congestion pricing in the United States, and this sends the wrong message to other cities trying to untangle their traffic and mass transit problems.
Her decision to suspend this program at the 11th hour raises real concerns about the region's collective ability to pursue major and essential public projects that will benefit residents, commuters and visitors now and in the future. This program was mandated by the New York State Legislature in 2019 following delays during the so-called transit Summer of Hell. Four years of study and analysis followed before it received federal approval. Hundreds of public forums were held and 100,000 public comments were submitted. The M.T.A. has already spent over $500 million building out the infrastructure. Now this suspension gives critics the chance to upend the whole undertaking.
What hope do we have to tackle the challenge of climate change, provide new housing or do other important things if we abandon this project, after all the work and money that was invested in it, less than a month before it was to begin? The M.T.A. Board and State Legislature should step in and keep the congestion pricing program moving forward.
Listen to selectionTom Wright is the president and chief executive and Kate Slevin is the executive vice president of the Regional Plan Association, a nonprofit focused on the economic health, environmental resiliency and quality of life of the New York metropolitan area.