NEWS: Only Rich People Should Be Allowed To Drive In NYC

POLITICS: Only Rich People Should Be Allowed To Drive In NYC

The price of tolls to drive your car into New York City is currently a steep $6. But if Mayor Bloomberg gets his way, they are going to shoot up to $8 for those heading into Manhattan’s busiest areas. For the average working stiff, the new fees will cost $170 a month, which does not include the crazy parking fees. That is probably why the average working stiff takes a train.

Bloomberg is proposing the increase to reduce traffic and pollution, believing it will force people to use public transportation. If passed, New York would become the first US city to enact a “congestion pricing” plan. London has had one in place since 2003 and it apparently has been effective.

US Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, who backs the plan, said something clever.

Zing!

Bloomberg is not just stopping at the toll increase. The city will also convert all taxis to hybrids, replace all light bulbs with efficient bulbs and attempt to cut the city’s carbon emissions 30% by 2030. Then Bronx air will smell like Seattle.

The congestion plan will be a tough fight for Bloomberg. It has to be approved by the state Legislature, which means the Mayor has to win over the suburban folks – the ones who will be paying the tolls. Good luck.

No shit. Who else would this effect? It will only force the guy who is just scraping by to take the train, but Mr. Moneybags could give a shit about a few extra bucks. Currently some bridges from Queens and Brooklyn have no tolls, but that would change. (That’s what I used to take) For some people that is a huge increase. And for people who are dying, it is apparently a really bad plan.

Governor Elliot Spitzer has backed the plan. If lawmakers approve it, New York will qualify for funds being offered by Washington. But the money is being offered in some weird competition, sort of like a city traffic fund fight to the death. Currently New York is one of nine semifinalist cities eligible for federal funds to fight traffic. The cities are battling it out for $1.1 billion. Up to five cities could split the money and the “winners” will be announced in August. That is quite a weird way to run a government, but good luck New York!

A rather useful consequence of the Congestion Tax in London is a HUGE decrease in accidents, especially accidents involving pedestrians.

I thought this was going to be about Paris.

Those people would, presumably, qualify for Access-A-Ride, the MTA door-to-door bus service for people with disabilities.

I'm outraged!!!!

God, I miss New York. The one city in the U.S. where cars are not king. Maybe this sounds unfair to you, but do you have any idea how good the trains are into NY? You can take a PATH train straight into downtown from NJ, and there are also commuter rail lines running in from upstate, Connecticut, and three or four different lines coming in from New Jersey Transit. The train rides aren't free, but not having to park in New York? Priceless...

I'm all for this plan, but I don't think it goes far enough. If Bloomberg is gonna charge to drive into the city I'd raise the toll to an even 10 bucks since all the citiots who drive beamers can easily afford it. Hell I'm for Spitzer setting up a Toll Booth at Exit 70 on the LIE charging all the tourists and non-locals for invading the East End during the summer. Sort of like this test run I did a few years back...

I was under the impression that only rich people commuted to NYC by car already....

This is a pretty good plan - cars are *heavily* subsidized. This is particularly acute in urban areas, where suburbanites who tear them up avoid paying for them at all by not living *in* the city. The only flaw is: if you want people to not drive, you need to provide alternative. So, the New York metro area has a great train system - but clearly not great enough if people are still currently willing to drive. Much as people have sucked up and paid higher gas prices, people will suck it up and pay this too if they still perceive public transport as inconvenient. The plan has to look beyond penalty and towards making it easier/more enjoyable/more efficient to use buses and trains.

First thing to do is hang the MTA's Board of Directors... they hide money like an alcoholic hides whiskey.

Maybe Public Transportation is flawed, but it'd be nice to see how much money the MTA actually has to work with, instead of crying poverty everytime Contracts come up.

London and New York City are very diffrent. In London there are many diffrent points of access compared to the area in Manhattan they want to charge to get into.

I don't think you understand JUST how effecient the NYC area train system is...
There is also a decent bus system, and countless cabs. There is plenty of alternative, and most people in the area take advantage of it - look out at the street from anywhere in NYC and you will see a sea of cabs, not a sea of private cars. I'm actually under the impression that most people who work in NYC already don't drive in- at least in the downtown core area - it'll take you three of four times as long to drive somewhere as it would for you to take the train. You can hop a train in BOSTON and ride into NYC - it's not cheap, but it gives you an idea of the train system there.

i dont understand how anyone could be complaining about THIS part of the plan. seems to me like the additional monetary sacrifice would be worth the results. but i suppose, as is the case with most legislative initiatives, several encompassing details have been ignored.

but hey, what do i know? i'm just a kid from kansas. i still ride my horse to school.

What do expect from a douche bag that switched parties to get elected on Giuliani's tail coats? He an anti-smoking nazi, party pooping, tax raising billionaire. New York City has gotten exactly what it deserves electing Bloomberg Mayor and Spitzer as Governor.

Residents of NYC are probably quite pleased, as very few of them own cars. It's residents of the outlying suburbs that are outraged.

No, he wants the NYC voters to elect someone that people in Kansas would support. Get it? And he's mad because in 10 years Spitzer will be president.

I, personally, don't understand anyone who drives into NYC during the day. The only time I did it was to get quickly from shows late at night. If I had to get from one venue to the other and didn't want to deal with cabs or the late night train schedule I would do that - but the times I drove into the city during daylight hours were maddening.

The city is the best equipped in the nation as far as public transportation goes and the worst....

LA just lost out on the "funding" because the mayor would not put in "congestion pricing" - probably because LA does not have any decent public transportation and it is not a viable solution.

I have no doubt that the NYC transit system is real fine. But it's clearly not fine enough if private vehicles coming into the system are such a problem that the mayor not only thinks he needs to tax them to slow down their intrusion, but is actually able to get support for that plan.

So, we could assume people who drive in are just idiots .... and some of them might be. But they clearly feel like they're getting something out of driving - comfort, security, ease of mobility. So, if you really want to get rid of congestion - you just can't make it expensive to drive; alternative have to be added. People will live *hours* away from a city and commute in, just to obtain certain perks (a big house, big yard) - you think they'll really blink over paying a few more bucks to get on the island? There needs to be a carrot - new routes, more trains, etc - in order to make this really work.

There are lots of good reasons to drive into NYC. Occasionally. Doing it every day is basically pretty stupid - the only reason I can think of why someone who can't afford to light cash on fire would do it is because they are claustrophobic. But then they could just take the Staten Island Ferry to get onto Manhattan - it's *free*, for pity's sake!

Anyway, not everybody can do everything they want. If you have a disability, some doors are closed to you. It sucks, and it's not fair, but life isn't fair. I'd like to live in NYC, but I can't because my life priorities make it too expensive. Do I blame Mayor Bloomberg for this? No, I take personal responsibility, and deal with it.

I used to ride the IC Commuter Train in and out of Chicago and loved it. That was 90 minutes total every day that I could catch up on reading, shmooze with friends, or hold up the Chicago Tribune in front of me while Liza gave me a hand job. I'm all for trains!

If downtown NYC is so bad, would it be possible to outlaw private autos, except for waivers under certain conditions (medical or whatever? Yeah I can imagine it becoming a bureaucratic nightmare) and let everyone taxi or walk or Segway or bike around?

it's not a bad idea in general, but I do agree that it's unfair to the middle and lower income bracket. of course, the REALLY rich people already LIVE in Manhattan and don't have to be concerned with the toll at all. I visited London in 2003 right after they tightened down on the traffic in central London and was amazed at the improvement.
I'm not sure what the alternative to the tolls would be...a lottery system as to who can drive into Manhattan? that wouldn't fly. exemptions for carpoolers, hybrids, motorcycles, scooters, and such would help level the field a bit.

I have to wonder if this would work as well in New York as it did in London though. Gas prices go up and people just swallow it and keep on spending. would an extra $150- $175 dollars a month really keep that many more drivers out? and even if it did, would NYC's already strained mass transit system be able to handle the offset?

Well we can add this to the list of reasons why people don't like public transportation.

apparently those people aren't getting hand jobs.

instead of increasing the tolls, why not decrease bus fairs?