Lew Fidler: Let’s Get to Work

Here's more on yesterday's congestion pricing debacle in Albany, this time from City Council Member Lew Fidler. Direct quotes are in quotation marks.

Streetsblog: What's your reaction to today's news?
Fidler: "Look, it would do nobody any good for one side to gloat and for the other side to sulk. We need to really get to work on the problems that we've all acknowledged. You're familiar with the musical Oklahoma? The cowmen and the farmers need to be friends."

For all the negativity on hydrogen fuel cell cars, I hope it did not escape everyone's notice that Westchester [White Plains] has entered into a pilot program. We need to incentivize the infrastructure for fuel cell vehicles. These cars are feasible today. Would you be the first one on your block to get one? We need to find a way.

Streetblog: A broad-based tax?

Fidler: "A regional payroll tax, that's my proposal. Other people have talked about a millionaire's tax. We can't let the MTA capital plan crumble. That's not the message that people who are against congestion pricing are trying to send."

"Outside of the objection I have in principle to congestion pricing, it's not effective. When you're looking to raise revenue, you don't do it in a way that costs fifty cents on the dollar."