Congestion Pricing

WABC's John Gambling spoke with Michael Bloomberg this morning. In anticipation of the Mayor's Earth Day speech, they discussed everything from congestion charging to light bulbs. Below are some highlights from their conversation; you can download to the entire show here.

Ahead of Sunday's big PlaNYC 2030 reveal, Bruce Schaller of Schaller Consulting has released an exhaustive analysis of New York City traffic, transit and public space. "CITYinFLUX: Understanding and Untangling Traffic and Transportation in NYC" is a compendium of over 40 reports and databases, highlighting a wealth of interesting facts, charts and analyses. The complete report (43 page PDF) is available here.

Add the Queens Chamber of Commerce to the list of pre-emptive congestion pricing foes.

Saturday afternoon traffic congestion on a London street near Covent Garden with dimensions and land use almost identical to Prince Street in Manhattan.

Brooklyn City Councilmember Lew Fidler and a small group of his outer borough colleagues have put forward Resolution 774 "calling upon the Mayor of New York City to oppose the institution of any form of congestion pricing." The resolution is based on a March 2006 report commissioned by the Queens Chamber of Commerce that was, to put it mildly, filled with misinformation and gaping holes about the City of London's congestion charging experience.

Theodore Kheel (pictured right), has been called by The New York Times "the most influential peacemaker in New York City in the last half-century" in light of the fact that he has participated in the resolution of more than 30,000 labor disputes. Kheel has founded several related foundations devoted to resolving the conflict between the environment and development, and has been an advocate for mass transit for over fifty years. He is a regular Streetsblog reader. A shorter version of this essay appeared in the New York Times this Sunday.

Please note: This was an April Fool's Day post...

The once traffic-filled street between Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery is now a thriving plaza.

Brooklyn Council member Lew Fidler (above) is circulating an anti-congestion pricing resolution urging Mayor Bloomberg to oppose any form of road pricing. Fidler's resolution appears to be a shot across the bow in preparation for the mayor's forthcoming Long-Term Planning and Sustainability speech. Last week, Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff hinted that the speech would include "bold and creative" transportation policy ideas that come with a cost. Fidler, reportedly, will announce his resolution this coming Wednesday.