Comments on: Congestion Charging Rumor Mill

By: Gail Robinson

Gail Robinson — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 21:32:44 +0000

Thanks! We'll have an edited version of Iris Weinshall's comments too -- all available Monday a.m.

By: someguy

someguy — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 15:12:13 +0000

gothamgazette ROCKS!

By: Glenn

Glenn — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 20:22:45 +0000

Thanks Gail. I'm glad GG is on the case!

By: Gail Robinson

Gail Robinson — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 15:57:36 +0000

On Monday, Gotham Gazette will run an edited text of the talk by former Bogota Mayor Enrique Penalosa, who instituted an array of policies to restrict car use in his city of 7 million people. He also offers a ringing explanation of why it is essential to do that and suggests a few wayts New York could follow suit.

By: Clarence

Clarence — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 19:57:32 +0000

I expect we will have a video wrap up in about 10 days or so...there is a ton of footage and one of my fellow employees will be tackling this vid. We were able to do about 20 plus in-depth interviews with a cross section of folks at the Conference and seeing viewpoints from them as well as many suggestions from breakout session folks will be inspiring.

I actually can't wait to see the video, maybe because I am actually not editing it for a change!

The Scott Stringer speech is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iJnpBlmlpg

And the Fun Enrique Penalosa ride to the conference is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24YY3Qq01Ic

By: Glenn

Glenn — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 19:35:13 +0000

I know Clarence was there with his cameras so you should have some actual video in the near future. and BP Stringer's office is going to summarize it more formally at some point.

I attended the cars and buses break-out session. One of the most notable things I took away was the near universal dislike (in Manhattan) of personal automobiles causing traffic and getting in the way of local people walking, taking the bus, getting deliveries, etc. There was fairly broad agreement that better regulating curbside parking was an important tool whether through neighborhood parking permits or increasing metered rates to encourage people to go to indoor garages.

By: P

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 18:49:21 +0000

So can we expect more reports from yesterday's conference? What were the conclusions from each of the breakout groups?

By: Glenn

Glenn — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 17:49:01 +0000

All good information and reason to suggest that this might be in the serious planning stages.

Here's my best guess with no inside knowledge. First he's going to have to show that he's tried everything else and it still doesn't completely solve the traffic congestion problem. That means putting all the infrastructure and alternatives in place (bike & BRT network, increased MTA subway service, revised parking policy, etc) before he or his successor can argue there is no alternative.

He can't just do this through force of personal will as he attempted with the Olymics. He will need to pursuade the voters and local elected officials in the outerboroughs that this is the right thing to do.

One thing that would help is if the city set targets of an acceptable target of cars entering the Central Business District. Missing that target would result in unacceptable levels of pollution (asthma, lung disease, etc), obstruction of emergency vehicles (response times) and impede business in the city.

By: JK

JK — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 17:37:13 +0000

Maybe we are looking in the wrong place politically. It seems pretty likely that Sheldon Silver will want a say in approving pricing, City Council certainly will. Most importantly, so will the soon to be most important, popular and powerful politician in the state --- Eliot Spitzer.

Maybe the thing that puts pricing over the top is the MTA debt bomb exploding and the spectre for Spitzer of $3 base fares.