Today’s Headlines

  • “Traffic Pricing” Is Back — Squadron, WFP, NYC Biz Leaders Reviving Peak-Hour Road Fees (News)
  • DA Vance Pursues Manslaughter Charge in Manhattan Hit-and-Run Case (News, Post)
  • Unlicensed Truck Driver Who Killed Laurence Renard Faces Up to Year in Jail (News)
  • Worrisome: Open Door on New Haven Line Metro-North Car (Gothamist)
  • Terrifying: MTA Debt Service Forecast (2nd Ave Sagas)
  • iPod Bans Across America: Legislation Against “Distracted Walking” Now a Trend (NYT)
  • Governors’ Report on Ped Safety Filled With Victim-Blaming, Bereft of Analysis (MTR)
  • David Seifman Keeps Post‘s Streak of Negative Bike Coverage Alive
  • Bid to Permanently Expand 78th Street Play Street Suffers Setback (News)
  • Why Regular Psych Exams Should Be Required to Keep Your Driver’s License – Exhibit A (Post)

More headlines and SOTU links at Streetsblog Capitol Hill

  • Rode PPW this morning at 8. Not too long after the snow had started to stick. There were clearly twice as many bike tracks at 8th Street as there were up in front of 9 PPW, which supports the DOT’s explanation to NBBL. Too bad I didn’t have the foresight to photograph it.

  • Larry Littlefield

    I’d like to once again thank those who lobbied for, enacted and carried out having bicycles in parking garages at reasonable prices.

    Today is another day I might have wimped out on riding in, because I was worried about the conditions riding out. But in exchange for $20 bucks per month, I have the option of leaving the bike locked in the garage and riding it home tommorow night.

    I would have been worried that I if had locked it to the bike rack overnight on 5th Avenue, because it is 5th Avenue, it might have been cut off and seized as “abandoned.”

    In addition, the PPW bike lane was clear.

  • Kristen

    I’m not generally a praying girl, but man, I am praying for congestion pricing to pass. It just makes sense.

  • “The PPW bike lane was clear.”

    For now.

    I can also leave my bike overnight, thanks to my employer’s addiction to Leed Gold certification. And that also led to my decision to ride today.

  • Glenn

    It sounds like there’s going to be a swap of the payroll tax for Traffic Pricing. If they repeal the payroll tax, they should not do it just in the ‘burbs. Otherwise once again the periphery is milking the city.

  • Larry Littlefield

    “If they repeal the payroll tax, they should not do it just in the ‘burbs. Otherwise once again the periphery is milking the city.”

    That’s probably the plan. But if that is what they try to do, NYC should not give them permission to toll the bridges that the city, not the state, owns while the city maintains them.

    What they should do is eliminate MTA bus service, turn the buses and depots over to NYC and the counties, and give the counties and the city the option of keeping the payroll tax or losing it. And the fares with any free transfers from bus to subway should count as subway revenues.

    Did you read Ben’s piece? The subway is going to have to cover its costs.

  • LOLcat

    I can’t be the only one that thinks the two driver rightfully being charged for hitting pedestrians are only being charged because they are easy targets (aka minorities).

    IMO, the business that let the Dump truck driver drive without a license is almost more to blame than the driver himself.

  • Marco

    Congestion pricing is a great tool, and it’s outstanding that it might come back. However, I hope that they really, really think hard about how to mitigate the impact on the neighborhoods on the “free” side of the border, which are not really set up for “park and ride” at this point.

    Hell, maybe it’s not going to be an issue at all, but I’d hope they might plan for changes in driver behavior in border neighborhoods before the program is enacted.

  • Driver

    Funny how the cutoff is 60th St so if you take the 59th St bridge to get uptown you have to pay to pass through 1 block. What a crock. Also, be prepared for a new 5 am rush hour to beat the 6 o clock toll.

  • Bolwerk

    The “distracted walking” ban seems attractive because of the annoyance distracted walkers create (and it is an annoyance, as any walk down a busy street with a narrow sidewalk will show). I, for one, sometimes fell pangs of violent rage when people act like they’re the only ones who exist on the sidewalk. However, the idea for the ban springs from the same sense of pastyfaced middle class entitlement (you’re burdening me) that, ironically, keeps things like smart road pricing, sensible parking policies, and cost- and life-saving street reconfigurations from being considered.

  • Streetsman

    I’ve probably said this before on Streetsblog, but in order for it to stand a chance, “Traffic Pricing” or “Congestion Pricing” really needs a new name and new branding. It is two negative ideas – traffic and cost. No one in their right mind would ever market a commercial product like this. The name needs to focus on the benefits – clean air, less traffic on the roads, faster commutes, easier mobility for delivery trucks, buses, taxis, etc. I would recommend calling it something like Green Pass or Speed Pass

  • I think if we are going to ban listening to music on the sidewalk we should also ban listening to music in cars or having windows. It’s the same thing. Cars makers tout their ability to block out any noise from the outside from a car. If not being able to hear anything around you is a danger on the street that practice should be illegal. also deaf people should be illegal. This is just a another ridiculous example of windshield perspective legislation.

  • Please note the liberal sarcasm in the above post. Indeed though, it seems that this is pretty ludicrous.

  • vnm

    Streetsman’s Speed Pass suggestion is great, and branding is going to be very important.

  • rhubarbpie

    I just wanted to echo earlier comments: “traffic pricing” is no better than congestion pricing as a name. Both things that people hate — let’s put them together and double the objections. I hope that proponents didn’t spend any time and money coming up with the new name.

    While it’ll always be referred to as congestion pricing, I suspect, by opponents, it’s up to proponents to try to win the battle, and a smart name would help. Streetsman’s idea is a good start, and I hope advocates will spend some time on this soon.