Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Congestion Pricing

Support for Pricing From Nassau Dem Michelle Schimel

10:27 AM EDT on April 7, 2008

016.jpgWhile many of her colleagues are hoping to avoid taking a stand on congestion pricing by urging Speaker Sheldon Silver to kill the plan without a vote, Nassau County Assembly Democrat Michelle Schimel has come out strongly in favor with an editorial in the Great Neck Record:

For more than 300,000 Long Island residents, the daily commute to New York City is often a difficult one --- either because their mass transit experience is unpleasant and slow or because they sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic from their home to their office. Unfortunately, it's only going to get worse. Our region can expect more and more drivers on our streets, and riders in our buses and trains. But, as of now, we don't and won't have the funds to make real improvements to handle the overflow.

[Congestion pricing] would reduce traffic by 8 percent in Long Island and across the region while earning $500 million a year that would go directly to mass transit projects such as modernization of the Long Island Rail Road and East Side Access --- projects that could cut commuters' trips by as much as 44 minutes a day, according to the Regional Plan Association. The reduced congestion will also help drivers who aren't commuting daily to Manhattan, freeing up roadways to save everyone time.

More important than the cost to a small percentage of commuters is the cost of maintaining the status quo and not implementing a congestion pricing plan. Millions more people will clog our roads over the next few decades without viable alternative mass transportation options, making daily commutes far more unbearable.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Maximum Rage: Delivery Workers Protest Low Wages, App ‘Lockouts’

Couriers with bikes and signs urge the city to step in as Uber Eats, GrubHub and DoorDash withhold work, they say.

March 28, 2024

The Toll of History: MTA Board Approves $15 Congestion Pricing Fee

New York City's congestion pricing tolls are one historic step closer to reality after Wednesday's 11-1 MTA board vote. Next step: all those pesky lawsuits.

March 28, 2024

Company That Fought McGuinness Safety Project Wants to Seize Bklyn Street for Private Backlot

Broadway Stages to Greenpoint residents: "Street safety for me, not for thee."

March 28, 2024

SEE IT: Hit-and-Run Driver With Fake Plate Seriously Injures Cyclist

The 5 p.m. crash occurred at Flushing and Waverly avenue near the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

March 28, 2024

Thursday’s Headlines: Shakira Shakira Edition

Pop superstar Shakira performed for a crowd of 40,000 packed into the Times Square pedestrian plazas. Plus congestion pricing news and more.

March 28, 2024
See all posts