Congestion Pricing

Join Transportation Alternatives and the Citizens Committee for NYC at Everything Goes Book Café in St. George on Staten Island for a screening of Contested Streets, a one-hour documentary about New York's traffic crisis and how congestion pricing can solve it.

Yesterday on WNBC's "News Forum," Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City and congestion pricing panel appointee, went head-to-head with anti-pricing Assemblyman Richard Brodsky. While Brodsky once again recited the "tax on the working man" même chapter and verse, he failed, once again, to articulate an alternative plan to raise the money everyone agrees is necessary to shore up mass transit.

From Elizabeth Benjamin at The Daily Politics:

From the newsletter of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign comes an inspiring summation of the effects of congestion pricing in London since the program's inception in 2003, gleaned from Transport for London's annual report:

Where's the beef? Under Rep. Anthony Weiner's plan, vehicles, like the one above, would not be charged a fee to use New York City's most heavily congested streets

Looking closely at the conditions attached to the $354.5 million federal grant New York City received today, a few things jump out right away:

The Agreement: The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has awarded $354.5 million through its Urban Partnership Agreement (UPA) to New York to implement the Mayor's congestion pricing program (or an alternative plan approved by USDOT as described below). The funds have been awarded jointly to the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT), the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT).

Here are two initial responses to this morning's news that the US DOT will grant New York City $354 million to implement Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan:

Sewell Chan at City Room has this morning's news. Here are some excerpts from his report: