Congestion Pricing Fails

By on April 8, 2008 11:00 am in News

Thought the BHB Community would have something to say about the failure of congestion pricing. Comment away!

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  • HDEB

    I believe the congestion pricing plan was a great idea!

    Charging motor vehicles to enter Manhattan would’ve been a steady source of revenue while encouraging mass transit, cycling and walking.

    By nixing it we are sticking with unsustainable American car culture…yuck!

  • anon

    I suppose I should not surprised by how uninformed people are about how that ridiculous congestion pricing plan would have actually played out.

    They should have called it – Welcome to the Brooklyn (& Queens) Parking Lot. With no compromise for local residents, and a ‘suck-it-up’ attitude from our Billionaire Mayor.

    Imagine, if you will, the THOUSANDS of motorists, trying to time their trip to arrive at the crossings (Bklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, etc.) right at 6pm, so as not to be charged. Now imagine that they are 5, 10, or 20 minutes early (having estimated for traffic) – what exactly do you think they will be doing? Driving around downtown Brooklyn, waiting for the clock to tick. Cars would be lined up on Court St., Boreum Pl., Tillary St., Henry St. – Or I should say, even more cars would be lined up. Maybe they won’t be parking – maybe they will just drive around a few blocks for a while…. So much for cleaning the environment – or just pushing it into the Outer Boros…

    That isn’t even talking about the people who will actually drive to the area for the sole purpose of parking- and then take the train the next few stops.

    Congestion? what do you think the stroke of 6pm would be like – the height of rush hour out of the city meets up with the waiting swell on their way in…

    This plan didn’t address anything except what to charge and how to collect it. If you think this was about ‘the environment’ – then keep dreaming. You want to cut down on pollution? Limit truck traffic and regulate exhaust for large trucks – they account for more than 75% of it – not you in your little Honda or even your Lexus.

    Real studies reveal that congestion in Manhattan would not have changed significantly – every company or business would pass along their increased cost of doing business to the customers – even those who aren’t driving anywhere themselves.

    Brooklyn and Queens would suddenly have a congestion problem itself (oh yeah, because neither has one already).

    Details regarding limited attempts to mitigate this issue were never addressed in the Legislation proposed by Bloomberg. The concept of residential parking permits, for example, present so many additional issues and problems they they couldn’t even hope to be effective unless studied, and evaluated in the ‘real world’.

    Bloomberg and Quinn were looking to plug their budget gaps – and now claim that because this extra money didn’t come in, that the MTA and mass transit will suffer – PLEASE – it was their mismanagement which caused the current conditions, so relying on this funding to save them…

    Whatever – but I am shocked that Councilman Yassky voted for it – that is what happens when you are thinking about your next job instead of your constituents. Of all the locations, Brooklyn Heights was one of the most vulnerable to a number of the problems presented by this proposal.

  • T.K. Small

    Yesterday I spent a good portion of the day trying to get everyone I know in the area to contact assemblywoman Joan Millman and Senator Martin Connor, urging them to reject the congestion pricing proposal. When I first called Millman’s office I learned that she had not taken a position yet, but was conducting a poll of her constituents. So much for rendering independent judgment.

    My concern is that parts of New York City are getting too snobby and this proposal only would have accentuated the divisions between the haves and have-nots. Additionally, the MTA is the last entity that I would entrust with a large pile of money. They have lied to the public and demonstrated profound incompetency too many times.

    Traffic and pollution are legitimate concerns that should be addressed in a subsequent plan that more equitably asks all New Yorkers to work together. But it does bother me that in rejecting the plan, the legislators did not have the balls to actually take a vote.

  • HDEB

    I support any plan (rather than inevitable market and environmental forces) that makes driving less convenient and more expensive.

    The congestion plan was imperfect in many ways but it would’ve been a step in the right direction.

  • http://http:www.myspace.com/billyreno Billy Reno

    The parties on the streets of Mapleton, NJ looked like Mardi Gras!

  • clarknt67

    “Liberal green people” are very aware of the fat in the gov’t budget, it’s called no-bid contracts to Halliburton, Blackwater and KBR, or subsidies for Bruce Ratner.

  • http://www.LocalApple.com LocalApple

    The government should do more and increase spending to make mass transit more appealing to commuters instead of throwing all these crazy tax ideas around! The Access to the Regions Core plans to expand trans hudson rail capacity to midtown manhattan in attempt to alleviate growing congestion back and forth from NJ.

  • HDEB

    Below are a few sensible proposals (IMO of course) to address NYC’s needs:

    – The LIRR being extended from Atlantic ave. to downtown brooklyn and the WTC

    – A freight train tunnel between Manhattan and NJ

    -Above ground, cross town light rail on 42nd

    – LNG terminal in long island sound

  • anon

    congestion pricing is the new name for east river tolls. something that the ever-avaricious NYC politicians have been salivating at for years. The NYS assembly actually did the people’s bidding. For once. Most people do not want the government charging them for the privilige of using public streets. We pay the steepest state and city taxes in the country already. But the greedy pols always want a little more from us, a little more, a little more.
    ENOUGH!

  • HDEB

    High gas prices make me happy! Today crude futures rose to $112.21 a barrel, a new record.

    At $4 a gallon gas is one quarter a cup… still cheap. Cheap gas and the lifestyle it supports is ending, though not without a fight.