Congestion pricing goes down
And there it goes. I happen to think this is a big mistake - but maybe I'm a bit biased being a car-less person living in Manhattan below 60th street.
In a place as congested as Manhattan, mass transit is an absolute necessity. And that mass transit will rarely be able to fund itself purely through user fares. Given all of the negative externalities caused by driving cars in Manhattan, I don't think it's bad idea to make people pay for this luxury. I'm not itching for higher taxes, but this one would have triggered a $354M grant from the federal government (which NYC will now not receive). It also would've given car-less residents in the outer boroughs almost immediate access to new buses and new express bus routes.
To top it all off, it was my favorite Speaker of the NYS Assembly who brought the whole thing down. Sheldon Silver has entirely too much power, but I'll have more on him in future posts.
In a place as congested as Manhattan, mass transit is an absolute necessity. And that mass transit will rarely be able to fund itself purely through user fares. Given all of the negative externalities caused by driving cars in Manhattan, I don't think it's bad idea to make people pay for this luxury. I'm not itching for higher taxes, but this one would have triggered a $354M grant from the federal government (which NYC will now not receive). It also would've given car-less residents in the outer boroughs almost immediate access to new buses and new express bus routes.
To top it all off, it was my favorite Speaker of the NYS Assembly who brought the whole thing down. Sheldon Silver has entirely too much power, but I'll have more on him in future posts.
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