Comments on: Spitzer Backs Congestion Pricing

By: Judith L'Heureux

Judith L'Heureux — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 18:56:46 +0000

Support congestion pricing.

By: Angus Grieve-Smith

Angus Grieve-Smith — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 04:26:50 +0000

I still think we'll have won, and it'd be worth spending $500 million of city or state money on. The federal contribution is a bonus. Of course, it's not a good idea to waste it.

By: Niccolo Machiavelli

Niccolo Machiavelli — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 02:19:54 +0000

Or, Pat, what if we pass it, they give us the $500M but cut us out of future Fed Gas Tax revenues to make up the difference, since we are not a "donor" state? Do we still think we won?

By: Pat

Pat — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 23:08:17 +0000

So let me understand this. If the legislature pass it, but the Federal Gov't then picks another city to give the $500 million to, what happens then?

By: Gary

Gary — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 16:38:55 +0000

It's going to happen.

I think that most legislators who are not 100% on board, e.g. Millman, are looking to shape the legislation so that their districts see tangible benefits to go along with the new impacts from the plan.

And MTA is really going to have to ramp up services, or daily transit commutes are going to become a nightmare. [Insert plug for F express in Brooklyn here]

By: Ian D

Ian D — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 15:46:59 +0000

I watched the press conference live on NY1 and was thrilled to see the Federal, State and Local governments all on the same page.

It's clear that the legislative bodies - in Albany and the City Council - are the only bodies trying to keep their heads in the sand as the boat sails.

By: d

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 15:39:44 +0000

"This is not really a question of whether, it's a question of when and a question of doing it properly." I think this is the greatest argument for congestion pricing I've seen. Opponents can debate the need for it now, but it seems difficult to argue that we'll never need it or that NYC can continue to grow without consequence. Eventually the population of NYC will be such that the city will be forced to do something about traffic. So, the choice is to do something now while we have the time to test programs and tinker with enforcement, hours, prices, and other variables or to do something later when we have less room for experimentation. Hats off to the governor for recognizing the importance of securing this funding.