I live on the Upper West Side and can’t imagine what Bloomberg is thinking, drawing a line at 86th Street. We can’t take any more traffic up here, and there’s no parking to spare. Doesn’t he realize that he would simply be moving more congestion up here?

Manhattan is an island. Why not just charge more money to come onto the island instead of creating problems for people who live here. It will be a lot cheaper to raise tolls than to install a complicated Congestion Pricing system, taking pictures of cars and charging back based on license plates. We already have EZ Pass. What gives?

If he really wants to cut midtown congestion, connect the Number 7 line directly from Times Square to the PA Bus Terminal and then Penn Station (and from there run west and then north to cover the Far West Side). This would give commuters a 2-seat ride crosstown from LIRR, NJT trains and buses, and Metro North. This would cut cars on the road, eliminate the need to walk through a tunnel to go between Times Square and the bus terminal. This would get more cars off the road.

Next, let buses terminate in the Meadowlands and have rapid trains between there and the City. Again, eliminate surface traffic.

Finally, create train options that run from Northern and Western NJ straight into NYC (ideally a rail crossing on the GWB).

What happened to regional planning?

Steven