August 14, 2007
Feds Will Support NYC's Congestion Pricing Plan, Possibly With $350 Million
Last month, much-to-do between Mayor Bloomberg and the state powers-that-be resulted in a kind of agreement that congestion pricing in NYC should be considered and studied (after months of Mayor Bloomberg campaigning for it). And today, the U.S. Department of Transportation is expected to announce its support of NYC's plan.
The USDOT could give NYC as much as $350 million (though not the half billion number the Mayor and US DOT Secretary Mary Peters had previously suggested). Still, as long as there's a minimum of $200 million, the funding will satisfy the state Legislature's requirements for congestion pricing.
The money does come with strings: The USDOT wants some sort of fee to be charged to drivers during peak hours, which is something quite a few politicians in the outer boroughs and Westchester hate. There are still questions about how much of the money will go to mass transit or equipment to set up congestion pricing E-ZPass-type systems, some of which may be answered during today's press conference.
The Sun reminds us that the MTA has made plans assuming that the city will get over $500 million in federal funding - guess the MTA will have to re-work their numbers. And the city and state will have to create its congestion pricing commission.
Finally, this brilliant image is from Loho10002. We'd pay to see this movie.
Update: The US DOT will give NYC $354 million; DOT secretary Mary Peters said that the Legislature must agree to a plan within 90 days of convening, which is about March 2008 according to the Times. She said, "If the city does not have the legal authority to move forward at that time, it will not receive the money." Her other remarks, via the Times:
Ms. Peters said that so long as the commission approves a traffic plan that meets the same “performance objectives” as the mayor’s original plan, the city would receive the balance of the money. At a news conference this morning, Ms. Peters said that the federal government supported Mayor Bloomberg’s plan because it was “as brass and bold as New York City itself.”“The average New York commuter now spends 49 hours stuck in traffic every year, up from 18 hours in 1982,” she said. “While some may be content to accept growing gridlock as a way of life, Mayor Bloomberg is not going to let traffic rob the Big Apple.
“New Yorkers,” she added, “must understand that we must stop relying on yesterday’s ideas to fight today’s traffic jams.”
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Excellent news. Let's hope it doesn't take a decade to implement though.
Rush Hour 4 is probably infinitely better than Rush Hour 3.
$350m, $500m, or $1b, shouldn't matter... What should matter is if this new tax would help relieve congestion and air pollution!
Die congestion tax, die!
here comes everybody's hands out for free money.
the vendors are drooling to get their EZ pass camera, bar code reader, license plate reader sales pitch in for more free money.
First thing to do, spend about $5 million on a study. Then redirect the money to the general fund. There is no way this is getting done for $350 million.
Here is a novel idea. Make the city more bicycle, scooter & motorcycle friendly. Give us places to park. Give incentives for people to take mass transit or bike into work. It will help with pollution and traffic. Charging a truck $21 to drive into Manhattan is crazy. Trucks are the life line of this city. Commuters should find alternatives to get to work instead of driving in. If they insist, then they can pay the $8 to come in. I suppose they can afford it. Manhattan is one of the easiest places to get to in the five boroughs. There really is no excuse.
Also, it would be nice if the Mayor himself practiced what he preached because I don't see how taking a chauffered SVU to a train station 20 blocks away helps alleviate congestion and/or pollution.
I agree with you Marygrace.This is just a money grab that will cost us. Every deliver in NYC will have this new "TAX" and that will be passed on to us. Remember there is already an %181/4 tax on parking and that did not fix the problem this wont either.
remember when they said the George Washington Bridge toll would only be implemented for one year? Now we're stuck with that $6 fee forever, it will never cease, it will never get cheaper. I don't know why anyone in their right mind would support this congestion price. I'd like to see an exact breakdown of where every cent of city revenue will go. Bloomberg doubled the amount of fines in the city, parking tickets, moving violations you name it. Ask yourself how many tickets you've gotten since Bloomberg has been in power. Where is all that money going? The budget deficit that Guiliani created of course.