Brooklyn

Word on the Street: Pricing “Like Charging You to Breathe”

WNYC had a short piece on the upcoming congestion panel vote this morning. It's a series of "word on the street" comments. Some of them are funny, others not so much. The gist is that a lot of people still don't know -- or don't believe -- that pricing revenues will be invested in transit.

By Brad Aaron

2:15 PM EST on January 31, 2008

WNYC had a short piece on the upcoming congestion panel vote this morning. It’s a series of “word on the street” comments. Some of them are funny, others not so much. The gist is that a lot of people still don’t know — or don’t believe — that pricing revenues will be invested in transit.

This afternoon, the state’s Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission
will likely endorse some variation of [Bloomberg’s congestion pricing] plan. Then, the City Council
takes up the issue, followed by the state legislature, where opposition
is strong.
Over the past week, WNYC’s Matthew Schuerman has been
talking to New Yorkers in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan. He found that
one of Bloomberg’s main arguments isn’t getting through.

Listen for the driver who doesn’t like the smell of other people.

Brad Aaron

Brad Aaron began writing for Streetsblog in 2007, after years as a reporter, editor, and publisher in the alternative weekly business. Brad adopted New York's dysfunctional traffic justice system as his primary beat for Streetsblog. He lives in Manhattan.