New York congestion pricing

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This article documents proposed legislation that is currently being considered. Information may change rapidly as the course of legislation progresses.

New York congestion pricing is a proposed traffic congestion fee for vehicles traveling into or within the Manhattan central business district of New York City. The congestion pricing charge is one component of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plan to improve the city's future environmental sustainability while planning for population growth, entitled PlaNYC 2030: A Greener, Greater New York.^[1] If approved and implemented, it would be the first such fee scheme enacted in the United States.^[2]

Contents 1 History 2 Proposal 3 Reaction 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] History

Mayor Bloomberg's goals for long-term sustainability through the year 2030 were first announced on December 12, 2006.^[3] On April 22, 2007 (Earth Day), PlaNYC 2030 was unveiled.^[4] Along with transportation initiatives, the plan outlined steps to clean up brownfields, create affordable housing, utilize open spaces, provide cleaner and more reliable and efficient energy sources, improve water quality and infrastructure, achieve cleaner air quality, and address climate change issues.^[4] The transportation initiatives support greater use of mass transit through various improvements and additions to transit infrastructure and services. In addition, the initiatives also include increased use of cycling, expanded ferry services, increased traffic violation enforcement, and installations of Muni Meters and an intelligent transportation system.^[4]

Of the 16 proposed transportation initiatives in PlaNYC, the congestion pricing program is the only component that has to be approved by the New York State Legislature with financial support from the State^[5][6]; the remainder is within New York City's or its regional jurisdiction and is to be funded by a new Sustainable Mobility and Regional Transportation Financing Authority,^[7] which would also take in revenue from the congestion fees, estimated at $380 million.^[6][2]

New York City applied to be part of the United States Department of Transportation's Urban Partnership Program, which would allocate money to cities that were willing to fight urban traffic congestion through tolling programs, express bus services or bus rapid transit, telecommuting, or technologies designed for the purpose.^[8] In June 2007, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters said that out of the nine finalist cities applying for the program, New York City was the farthest along in its traffic reduction planning and the city was eligible for up to $500 million for funding the congestion pricing plan.^[2] Since the final funding decision would be announced in August, Peters wrote in a letter to Governor Eliot Spitzer that if state approval was not met by July 16, "it is unlikely that New York City would be selected." ^[9] Although a commitment was not established by that date, on July 19, the State legislature approved the creation of a 17-member commission that will study different plans to reduce traffic in the city, including congestion pricing.^[10] Signed by Spitzer on July 27, the bill authorized New York to apply for at least $200 million in federal funds.^[11]

On August 14, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded from the Urban Partnership program $354 million to New York City. It was the largest of the five grants awarded to cities, which included San Francisco, King County, Washington (Seattle), the Minneapolis area, and Miami.^[12] Only $10.4 million is allocated for launching the congestion pricing program and $2 million for research. The rest of the grant will fund transportation infrastructure and services: $213.6 million to improve and build new bus depots, $112.7 to develop bus rapid transit routes, and $15.8 million for expanded ferry services.^[13][14]

The idea of congestion pricing is endorsed by Governor Spitzer,^[2] Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno,^[9] and other New York City politicians, such as City Council Speaker Christine Quinn,^[11] Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer,^[15], and Representative Joseph Crowley of Queens and the Bronx^[16], as well as the U.S. Department of Transportation. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and other politicians expressed skepticism about the plan, raising several questions about its viability, its environmental effects on neighborhoods bordering the congestion zone, the lack of state control in Bloomberg's proposal, and the imposition of a regressive tax on some commuters.^[17][18]

[edit] Proposal

New York's proposal cites comparable congestion pricing programs in London, Singapore and Stockholm.^[19][20] New York City's program is proposed to be a three-year pilot program, at the end of which the City and State would decide if the program should be made permanent.^[6] When final legislative approval is given, the program could be put into effect within 18 months.^[2]

As proposed, the congestion pricing zone is defined as the island of Manhattan (bordered by the East and Hudson Rivers) south of 86th Street. Exempted roadways within the zone include the FDR Drive, New York Route 9A (West Side Highway and Henry Hudson Parkway included), the Battery Park Underpass, and the East River bridges (Queensboro Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, Manhattan Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge) and their approaches. A free route from the East River bridges to the FDR Drive and from the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels to Route 9A would be designated.^[21] Drivers who use toll crossings to or from the zone (e.g. Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and Queens-Midtown Tunnel) would be charged the difference between the toll and the congestion charge.^[22]

The charge would apply on weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Proposed fees would be $8 for cars and commercial vehicles and $21 for trucks entering from outside or leaving from inside the zone. For drivers traveling within the zone, $5.50 would be charged for trucks and $4 for other vehicles. Transit buses, emergency vehicles, taxis and for-hire vehicles, and vehicles with handicapped license plates would not be charged the fee. Vehicles would be charged only once per day.^[21]

Operations for monitoring vehicles within the congestion zone will be barrier-free and includes E-ZPass transponders and a license plate recognition system that involves cameras. The system for monitoring congestion pricing will be made separate from existing red-light camera systems. Drivers would be able to pay by a debit from their E-ZPass account or a debit from a pre-paid non-EZPass account linked to the vehicle's license plate number. For drivers without traffic payment accounts, they would have 48 hours to pay via phone, the Internet, text messaging, or cash transactions at participating retailers.^[21]

[edit] Reaction

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver currently opposes the plan, citing several issues. Since motorists will want to avoid the congestion pricing zone, he claims they will choose to park in neighborhoods just outside the pricing zone. This, in turn, would allegedly create "parking lots" and add more traffic and pollution to those neighborhoods.^[23] Secondly, because the plan would reduce traffic in Manhattan's central business district, but, he thinks, not necessarily elsewhere, neighborhoods with high asthma rates such as Harlem, the South Bronx, and Bedford-Stuyvesant would not benefit.^[23] The installation of cameras for tracking purposes may also raise civil liberties concerns.^[15][2] Silver stopped short of opposing the entire plan, and said he will continue to work toward an agreement.^[23][18]

Other opponents argue that the pricing could become a tax on middle- and lower-class residents, since those citizens would be affected the most financially.^[18][24] At the same time, higher-income commuters would not be turned off by paying the charges; thus the fee would not do much to discourage traffic into the congestion area.^[24]

In response to many of these issues, Bloomberg argued that a significant percentage of commuters will switch to public transportation, and most likely for all of their commute; thus cars would be taken off the road outside the Central Business District as well as within it. John Gallagher, a Bloomberg spokesman, also said that "toll shopping", a tendency for drivers to seek toll-free routes, will end as all commuters who go to the congestion zone will have to pay tolls.^[18][23]

On July 9, Assemblyman Richard Brodsky issued an adverse report, calling the proposal thoughtful and bold, but expressing skepticism on points including financial fairness and environmental impact. It mentions as insufficiently studied, though does not commend, alternatives including:

• Rationing
• Better traffic enforcement
• Time-of day pricing on mass transit
• Taxes on gasoline, payroll, commuter, or stock transfer
• Fees on City parking permits

[edit] See also

• Transportation in New York City
• Road pricing

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• PlaNYC 2030: Transportation
• Interim Report: An Inquiry into Congestion Pricing as Proposed in PlaNYC 2030 and S.6068
• Congestion Pricing in the Manhattan Central Business District: Let’s Look Hard Before We Leap
• A Cure Worse than the Disease? How London’s “Congestion Pricing” System Could Hurt New York City’s Economy