Bloomberg: Expect Some Tweaks to Pricing Bill
This morning, the Mayor's office praised the introduction of a congestion pricing bill in the State Assembly. At the end of the statement, Bloomberg drops a hint that the bill on the table is in for some fine-tuning:
We look forward to working with the Assembly, the Senate, the Governor and the City Council to work out the unresolved issues that have been raised, including mitigating the impact on lower-income drivers and ensuring that commuters who use Port Authority crossings are doing their part.
So, some effort is still underway to tweak the current bill or otherwise address the "New Jersey issue", even though, as Janette Sadik-Khan and Rohit Aggarwala pointed out at Monday's City Council hearing, Port Authority tunnels will generate $45 million in pricing revenue each year without changing the legislation one bit.
This issue could be resolved, as transportation expert Carolyn Konheim has suggested, by bumping up the congestion fee to $10 across the board. However, working out some sort of deal with the Port Authority without raising the fee seems more politically feasible at this point, especially in light of Sadik-Khan's hearing testimony:
There are still some questions to resolve on the issue of a greaterPort Authority contribution to transit in New York. There is a legalissue with charging different prices to different groups of people,there is a political issue, because the Port Authority is a bi-stateagency, and there is the policy question -- can the Port Authorityagain support the MTA capital program? It participated in the first MTArebuilding program, from 1982-1986.
Offsetting part of the fee for low-income drivers, meanwhile, has long been rumored to be a pre-condition of Speaker Silver's support. The Bloomberg administration has hinted that it is working on some sort of manipulation of the earned income tax credit to accomplish this.
Stay in touch
Sign up for our free newsletter
More from Streetsblog New York City
Analysis: ‘Dangerous Vehicle Abatement Program’ is a Failure By All Measures
The Department of Transportation wants the Dangerous Vehicle Abatement Program to simply expire in part because it did not dramatically improve safety among these worst-of-the-worst drivers and led to a tiny number of vehicle seizures.
School Bus Driver Kills Cyclist in Boro Park, 24th Bike Death of 2023
Luis Perez-Ramirez, 44, was biking south on Fort Hamilton Parkway just before 3:15 p.m. when he was struck a by school bus driver making a right turn.
‘Betrayal’: Adams Caves to Opposition, Abandons Bus Improvement Plan on Fordham Road
The capitulation on Fordham Road is the latest episode in which the mayor has delayed or watered down a transportation project in deference to powerful interests.
Friday’s Headlines: Yes He Said Yes He Will Yes Edition
That headline above is a reference to the last line of James Joyce's Ulysses, which we won't pretend to have read. But we have that ... and other news.
Madness: Port Authority Will Spend $8.3M to ‘Study’ Widening Outerbridge Crossing
Will this $8.3 million find out anything we don't know about induced demand?
