Ted Kheel and Charles Komanoff are out with an updated version of their plan to fund low-cost transit with congestion fees on cars and trucks. Coming hot on the heels of Kheel Plan II, the latest iteration -- called Kheel-Komanoff -- lowers the cordon tolls in a bid for political support but does not close the MTA's budget deficit:
...the schedule of cordon entry fees in the Kheel II Plan, which tops outat $25, appears too radical for the public to accept in one gulp. Thisnecessitates an “entry-level” congestion-toll proposal, one tailored tobe politically palatable while retaining the Kheel Plan essence ofcombining a free or cheaper transit “carrot” with a congestion fee "stick."
We have fashionedsuch a plan. We call it the Kheel-Komanoff Plan to distinguish it fromthe basic Kheel model of free or nearly-free public transit.Kheel-Komanoff substitutes a $2 to $10 sliding toll scale for the $5 to$25 tolls in Kheel II. It also reduces the 50% taxi surcharge to 33%and trims the 25% rise in non-cordon bridge tolls to 20%.
More bullet points come after the jump. For the full pitch from Komanoff, head over to Grist.
