Comments on: Upstate Assembly Member Says City Delegation Killed Pricing

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:35:42 +0000

If the Bush administration would like to get rid of the Highway Trust Fund in its entirety, that would be a giant step forward for mass transit. Massive federal highway subsidies suck money away from transit systems. Let the states and municipalities fund both roads and transit in accordance to their own needs, not some highway-centric federal model.

By: Niccolo Machiavelli

Niccolo Machiavelli — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:58:06 +0000

Regarding the intentions of the Bush administration with regard to congestion pricing, “Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.”

By: kmc

kmc — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 05:44:58 +0000

The Assembly new congestion pricing is not a broad enough tax to accomplish what Bloomberg proposed. CP is the doing of the Bush administration. The Bushh admin wants to do away with the Federal Highway Trust Fund which pays for mass transit. They rather have the middle class pay for them. The Assembly in the past proposed a millionaires tax which Bloomberg opposed. Bloomberg, like the Bush admin, do not want to raise taxes for the rich. CP had nothing to do with the environment. The Assembly did the right thing.

By: Niccolo Machiavelli

Niccolo Machiavelli — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:51:59 +0000

Could be, Jake, that the Democratic conference just didn’t want to give a win to Bloomberg. Maybe they will rewrite this thing and have another go on their own as the budget crisis deepen. Then they’ll have something to take credit for.

By: jake

jake — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:14:12 +0000

If the city legislators opposed congestion pricing, that’s where the problem is. The question is whether they caved in to corporate interests (eg parking companies) or if widespread support for car culture is the real culprit.

It’s doubtless a bit of both, but (especially outside NYC) I think popular support for cars is our biggest enemy – after all, even when the business community strongly supports transit projects many state legislatures have a hell of time getting them thru. So recruiting candidates to run against pro-car legislators is definitely worthwhile, but I tend to think that what we really need is a mass movement for livable streets and against global warming that can confront car culture head-on.

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:02:55 +0000

If the upstate members really represented their constituents, they would have considered the fact that NYC gives more in tax revenue to the state than it gets back. The city is therefore the economic engine for the whole state. Congestion is bad for the city’s economy, therefore for the whole state. It’s a vampiric relationship. The state sucks blood out of the city’s neck. And a vampire that’s willing to suck less blood is a pretty lousy vampire.

By: Mitch

Mitch — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:54:08 +0000

I would guess that the legislators killed the proposal in private so they wouldn’t have to vote on it in public — on the theory that they would make more enemies than friends, no matter how they voted.

But that’s not the way the system is supposed to work.

By: Glenn

Glenn — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:34:22 +0000

And we’ll never know what was actually said by whom because that session was closed to the public and all media. That’s not democracy