![]() ![]() The then-mayor asserted that the plan would reduce greenhouse gas emissions while raising money for transit. Bloomberg’s proposal would have charged drivers $8 and trucks $21 to enter a charging zone south of 86th Street (later scaled back to 60th Street), though only on weekdays. The current scheme-in which a congestion-charging zone would be created in Manhattan south of 60th Street, excluding peripheral highways, and would operate via automated tolling based on reading E-Z Pass transponders or photographing license plates-resembles a plan proposed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2007. Fewer cars and free-flowing traffic mean less noise and pollution drivers get a more predictable trip bus riders get a faster trip and the tolls can be used to improve transit, creating a virtuous circle in which better transit means fewer drivers and less pollution. ![]() By calibrating the payment, policymakers can achieve the desired volume and mix of vehicles: cars, trucks or buses, emissions-free vehicles or gas-powered, and so forth. If entering scarce Manhattan road space requires a cash outlay, some people will be willing to pay, while others will avoid driving into the pricing zone. In such situations, economists recommend pricing. Moreover, while drivers pay a price in terms of lost time, no one benefits from their spending: it’s pure economic loss. This arrangement is noisy, dirty, and polluting. At present, access effectively is priced through lost time: people who drive consider the convenience of driving more important than the value of lost time spent sitting in traffic, while those who value their time more take transit. More vehicles want to come into Manhattan at peak times than the street network can accommodate. It’s drafted under the federal National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) rules, which apply because congestion pricing affects both roads in the national interstate system and roads that were built or reconstructed with federal funds.Ĭongestion pricing in Manhattan has been talked about in various forms for decades. The voluminous document, with many chapters and appendices, was submitted by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, along with the state and city Departments of Transportation, to the federal Department of Transportation. While sweeping change is never easy to accomplish, this one actually could overcome the political hurdles. New Yorkers skeptical that their city and state governments can ever make anything better can find some reason for hope in the August 10 release of an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Central Business District Tolling Program-widely known as “congestion pricing.” The EA indicates that the winners from congestion pricing greatly outnumber the losers.
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