It’s time for Mayor Bloomberg to realize the public sector is not his private personal empire. This new pricing plan is nothing but a new tax where no new tax is needed. It’s not going to reduce congestion, it’s just an addtional tax on people who can least afford it, and will only add more $$ to Bloomberg’s coffers.

Where is the proof that this new tax will actually reduce congestion anyway? I have seen NONE.

I am a low income musician who must cart a lot of equipment in a car in order to work. There is no other way for me to make my livelihood. I cannot cart large amounts of equipment on the subway or bus. There are many, many low income workers such as myself who need a vehicle to transport tools of their trade, and this new law is going to punish us, and benefit the rich who will continue to drive their cars anyway.

Taxing those who can least afford it is NOT the way to solve environmental crises in this city. There are other more practical solutions that don’t cost anything, such as carpooling rules, dedicated bicycle lanes, hiring more traffic cops, and better mass transit management.

AMERICANS: GUILTY OF EXTRAVAGANT OVER-INDULGENCE–TOO MANY CARS

It is time for local governments to start increasing the taxes on car ownership–a progressive tax. If a household owns more than one car, there should be an increasingly higher annual tax percentage on every car after the first one.

This would be a fair way to encourage a reduction of cars on the road, to increase revenues for road and transit system improvements, and to fight Global Warming.

This progressive tax would also provide the revenue needed to lower or eliminate the cost of transit passes.

Additional help in establishing an effective plan can be found in the new book:

“HOW TO LIVE WELL WITHOUT OWNING A CAR” by Chris Balish….

“With all the media hype about Climate Change, Traffic Congestion, and Oil Addiction, there aren’t many out there talking about doing something really worth while about the major culprit–the CAR. This book has a great, completely voluntary, plan that not only helps to achieve National Energy Independence, but also helps all people to achieve Personal Financial Freedom.”

EXAMPLE: We are all familiar with Car Rentals, but how many know anything about the rapidly growing Car Sharing Companies and Car Sharing Neighborhood Groups?

Tom Balish
Ledyard, CT

After the US committed the utter tragedy that continues to this day, Desmond Tutu made a statement which rings true in this case also “that it is not about the numbers.”

It is about doing what is right. And, the issues here are ultimately on a much larger scale with humanity facing full square the dire need for immediate adaptation to and mitigation of global warming.

Areas with high levels of congestion will experience far more than a 0.6 mph increase in speed, especially during hours when congestion is worst.

This is because the average speed stat is calculated city-wide over a 24hr period. As a result, the far greater change in speed on 42nd St at 4pm is obscured when averaged with the lack of change in speed on roads in Queens or Staten Island at 2am.

The bottom line: the unbelievably slow Manhattan crosstown buses will see speed increases of well over 0.6 mph, while traffic in less congested areas will see essentially no change at all.

Not surprisingly, Brodsky and co. don’t allow for these facts in their complaints.