And when they become busier, carbon emissions in those areas will go up — meaning the whole “public health” argument behind the proposed congestion scheme is geographically (and therefore socio-economically) selective. Life south of 86th street will become healthier; life north of 86th will become less healthy. From the standpoint of social justice, the proposal is a travesty; and from the standpoint of environmentalism, it is simply a lie.

I’m just above 86th myself and I agree that permit parking is a workable solution. The draft bill (which was posted to Streetsblog yesterday) provides that up to 80% of available curbside parking may be dedicated to residential permit holders, with the remaning spaces to be focused on high-turnover metered parking. Check out page 49 of the draft. Someone from outside the nabe would have to be nuts to cruise for a day-long parking spot under such a regime.

I can see how people who do own cars can get worked up over the dividing line. If I am reading the proposal correctly, a person living on 85th Street that moves the car from one side of the street to the other for street cleaning has to (at least in theory) pay the $4 charge (there is no discussion as to where enforcement checkpoints for intra-zone trips will be located). If you keep your car in an off-street garage and want to head out of the city, you still have to pay $8 just to get to the FDR (subject to offset for opportunity to use certain river crossings for free). Some members of the “Carmageddon Brigade” may be holding out for some kind of relief for these type of intrazone activities for their constituents within the zone. You can’t really blame them, though if this is their motiviation they should be open about it instead of hiding behind the supposed displaced congestion burden on their constituents just outside the zone.

For those jsut outside the zone, the proposed fix of residential parking permits is a windfall. The value of an off-street parking space between 86th-96th Streets is between $500 and $900 (with the exorbitant tax). Those parking for “free” on the street at present would save hours of time space-hunting (and probably several hundred in parking tickets each year) if the residential permit parking is done right.

It’s the point you’re making, Glenn, in your comment. It would be helpful to hear specifics from Lappin and Kellner on the issue.

Another way to look at it is that the area above 86th becomes a quasi-congestion zone. The threat of competition with folks who would otherwise park in the ten blocks below 86th may convince some people who would park above 86th to leave their cars at home.

It does remain to be seen though that if the only option the Bloomberg Administration gets a vote on is at 86th street, would they still vote for it? From their statements it seems they would be willing to let congestion pricing die if 86th street were the only proposed dividing line.

I think 86th is superior to 60th if only because it more thoroughly addresses their concern. Few people would try to drive to the 86th street border because few people work within 10 blocks south of 86th street, thus forcing people to take two modes – which I really don’t think motorists would do. But at 60th street, there are probably hundreds of thousands of workers commuting within 10 blocks south of that. And the current worst congested zones are around the Queensboro bridge, the 63rd street FDR entrance/exit and the Lincoln tunnel approaches.