According to the latest Quinnipiac University poll, 60% of New York City voters support congestion pricing if the revenues are used to improve city and regional mass transit. Majority support for congestion pricing when tied to transit improvements was found in every borough. This bodes well for the city’s congestion pricing efforts, since the [...]
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First introduced was the Mayor’s original plan with revised projections due to a recent update of the NYMTC (New York Metropolitan Transportation Council) model. The revised model raises the reduction of Vehicle Miles Traveled under the Mayor’s plan from 6.3% to 6.7% and increases annual net revenue to $420M from initial projections of $380M. (The graphic is an excerpt from a comparison of pricing scenarios distributed at Monday’s meeting; the excerpt compares the Mayor’s original plan with the four cordon pricing scenarios which raise the most annual net revenue for transit. For the entire table, click here.) Two particularly intriguing scenarios included variable tolling. The first would charge a one-time fee for cars entering the pricing zone only (60th Street is defined as the northern boundary in this scenario). Cars leaving the zone would not be charged. The fee would be in effect for 12 hours (6 am to 6 pm) but the amount of the fee would vary depending on the time of day: $10 between 6-10 am; $8 from 10 am – 2 pm; and $6 from 2 pm – 6pm. According to the NYMTC model, this scenario would reduce VMT by 6.8% (0.1% above the city’s plan) and generate $464M in net revenue (an increase of $44M from the original plan). The costs of both implementing and operating this option are significantly less, $73M and $62M respectively, than the original proposal which put costs at $224M and $229M. On Monday Crain’s New York Business reported that the Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission is considering significant changes to NYC’s congestion pricing plan. (Crain’s requires a subscription, but the story is available on Streetsblog.) The changes reportedly being considered include: Moving the northern boundary of the congestion pricing zone to 60th Street from 86th Street. [...]
Environmental Defense and the Pratt Center for Community Development have released a report (available here) which disproves the logic underpinning alternative plans to congestion pricing by Rep. Anthony Weiner, City Councilman Lew Fidler, and the Keep NYC Congestion Tax-Free coalition. While it appears few are taking seriously alternatives like Fidler’s “9 CARAT [...] From Environmental Defense comes an interesting analysis of the public hearings on congestion pricing: Fifty-seven percent of witnesses who testified at the recent hearings by the New York City Traffic Mitigation Commission support the concept of congestion pricing as a tool to reduce traffic congestion and vehicle emissions, according to a detailed analysis by [...] [UPDATE 1/10: For whatever reason, Google News is pushing this post (which was written in November 2007) near the top of some searches. MTR's response to the Jan. 10, 2008 Quinnipiac poll, which finds that 60% of NYC voters support congestion pricing if it improves regional transit, is available here. -Ed.] A Quinnipiac [...] U.S. Representative and NYC mayoral hopeful Anthony Weiner was at the 42nd Street/Madison Avenue Commerce Bank this morning to discuss transportation as part of City Hall News‘ “On/Off the Record” interview series. While Weiner offered several smart ideas for reducing congestion, his comments on NYC’s proposed congestion pricing plan echoed the same unsubstantiated arguments [...] Congestion pricing is progressive policy, the Tri-State Campaign told the Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission as public hearings on a potential congestion pricing plan began last week. Some anti-pricing politicians seem to have dressed up for Halloween as populists defending “working stiffs” from a “regressive tax” on driving. But an analysis of Census data [...] |
 
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Copyright © 2012 Tri-State Transportation Campaign |
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At Monday’s Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission meeting, an agency research team led by NYCDOT presented ten scenarios (out of several hundred possible scenarios) to the commissioners showing modifications or alternatives to Mayor Bloomberg’s original congestion pricing plan.