$15 Tolls Likely For Nation's First Congestion Pricing Program

Other cities have had this for years - it's needed to get people from driving in.

London's had this for decades - reduced congestion by I think 20-30%?

Why in the hell would you drive into NYC?

R1- I started driving into the city during Covid. I found a parking garage that was self parking therefore no parking garage attendant covid germs getting on the surface of the interior of my car. Then the habit stuck and since I only have to go into the office twice a week nowadays it's not a big deal driving in.

Easy decision OP - it’s either worth 30 additional bucks to you or it isn’t.

[quote]BUT maybe the traffic will be much lighter driving home in the evening

It won't. People will shake their fist, gripe, whine, complain, and continue to drive in.

[quote]The ONLY reason NYC is implenting this fee is because they are DESPERATE for revenue since their income stream plummeted during covid.

According to the beloved Mayor, NYC is also broke because of the migrant crisis.

R4- At first traffic will be significantly lighter for the evening commute but as people absorb the cost - I agree- traffic will return to pre congestion charge levels which is what has occurred in London.

[quote]traffic will return to pre congestion charge levels which is what has occurred in London

I assume you have a source for that claim?

This idea didn’t originate because of Covid - Bloomberg wanted to implement congestion pricing or a toll on the free East River bridges a dozen years ago but couldn’t make it happen.

R8- They are implementing now because the city desperately needs the revenue stream.

Wouldn't it be nice to live in a place here you could actually save money from your paycheck?

Only idiots live in NYC.

Can't wait to see the public react when their taxi and Uber fares skyrocket. And they're going to.

The purpose is to reduce the single car commuter, aka selfish assholes from NJ. Take the fucking train or stay on your own side.

[quote]In a brief report, officials said cars would pay a toll of up to $15 to enter Manhattan below 60th Street once per day. Commercial trucks would pay as much as $36. Taxis will add $1.25 per fare, and ride-hail apps like Uber and Lyft will tack on an extra $2.50 per ride.

[quote]Various groups have sought exemptions, including taxi and Uber drivers and suburbanites, dragging out the program’s approval. The most aggressive objection has come from New Jersey lawmakers, who sued the federal government in July for signing off on the plan. Officials in that state cited concerns that the tolls would place unfair financial and environmental burdens on residents. The lawsuit remains unresolved.

R13 = Boris

I understand the logic behind congestion pricing, but I feel like it’s exactly the wrong time. Everything is so goddamn expensive right now. We live in NYC and it’s shocking how little our very respectable income stretches in this city.

If NYC is desperate for revenue, all they have to do is start issuing tickets to all the assholes who ride bicycles, scooters, etc. on the sidewalks. If the law against doing so were actually enforced in this way, that would earn millions for the city before those reckless idiots finally learned to fucking stop riding on the sidewalks.

An additional potential source of revenue would be to start issuing tickets to drivers of cars, trucks, etc. for "blocking the box" so severely that sometimes it's very difficult for pedestrians to cross the goddamn streets even at crosswalks and even when they have the light. Another law that is never, ever enforced.

Bikes and electric bikes have become a huge quality of life issue. For whatever reason, all cyclists — recreational bikers, commuter bikers, and delivery workers — have decided no law pertains to them. They don’t stop at lights, often go the wrong way up bike lanes, ride on sidewalks. I was always pro-cycling before COVID but it’s gotten nuts, and quickly.

[quote]Only idiots live in NYC.

No, only idiots make remarks like that.

Agreed, R18. And as I said, ticketing those assholes is a huge potential source of revenue for the city, because it will take a while before many of them learn to stop breaking the law and endangering others, and SOME of them will never learn.

I don't know what people are talking about when they say the congestion charge hardly had any effect in London. The only cars you'll see inside the congestion charge zone Mon-Fri are taxis, delivery drivers or belong to the very wealthy. No-one drives themselves into central London for work.

R19, when it comes to the cost of living and the taxes for occasional city services, R 11 may be correct. R16 hit it on the nose:

[quote]We live in NYC and it’s shocking how little our very respectable income stretches in this city.

Where do you live, R11?

Op is too stupid to know that the money goes to the MTA, which is a state agency. NYC is not the recipient and will not control use of the incoming dollars.

R17 & R18 are completely correct, in addition to congestion pricing there should also be much more enforcement of existing laws regarding traffic and especially bicycles -- require licensing and registration of cycles & cyclists then ticket them and confiscate their bikes if they keep offending.

What’s so crazy to me, R25, is the dramatic shift. I have lived in NYC since 2001 and never had much opinion about bikes. What I did have was largely favorable. Since COVID, it’s like every cyclist decided no rule applies to them. I will often be crossing at the crosswalk with a light, and a bike/electric bike will just blow right through, to where I either have to stop or get hit. It’s become a major quality of life issue.

Another weird thing since, COVID: people bringing non-service dogs into food establishments. Feel like I ver saw this before, and now it’s daily.

You’re delusional if you think there will be hundreds of traffic police sent out to ticket bikes and scooters. The cost would far outweigh any increased revenue. Bike lane use and sidewalk use require changes in behavior at a basic community level. Bonne chance.

And this has nothing to do with the broader issue of financing mass transportation capital improvements.

R26 - that's actually cyclists in most cities.

The problem with cycling - particularly in NYC with lights at every block - is that once people get going, they don't want to stop.

Second, once you get the cardio going, you don't want to have to stop and then start up again and stop.

People don't see bikes as merely transportation - but also as a workout. That's never going to work on city streets with lights.

95% of cyclists do NOT obey traffic laws - yep, I'm going to say that's right. Now, if they're on a bike path - go for it.

[quote]You’re delusional if you think there will be hundreds of traffic police sent out to ticket bikes and scooters. The cost would far outweigh any increased revenue.

No, because there are already lots of cops on the streets doing basically nothing, so at least a percentage of those could be tasked with ticketing cyclists et al. who don't obey the rules. And if the amount of the ticket was considerable, not just chump change, that would serve the double purpose of earning lots of money for the city in the short term and hopefully serving as a deterrent eventually.

Also, I never said any of this WILL happen, I said it SHOULD happen.

It AIN’T Happening…. Stop already.

R30, is English your second language? Or maybe your third, or fourth? Because it's obviously not your first.

Nice try at an insult, R31.