After years of debate, New York state has adopted congestion pricing to deal with traffic problems in New York City. Starting in 2021, fees will be imposed on all vehicles entering a pricing zone that covers lower Manhattan, from 60th Street at the southern edge of Central Park to the southernmost tip of the island.
This approach has succeeded in cities including London, Singapore and Stockholm. For scholars like me who focus on urban issues, New York's decision is welcome news. Properly used, congestion pricing can make crowded cities safer, cleaner and easier for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians to navigate.
The details matter, including the size and timing of charges and the area that they cover. Congestion charges also raises equity issues, since rich people are best able to move closer to work or change their schedules to avoid the steepest costs.
Are congestion pricing plans the wave of the future in American cities?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by MostCynical on Tuesday April 02 2019, @10:25PM (1 child)
Delivery vehicles only after 7pm and before 7pm, any bypass roads or tunnels under the city should be free (don't penalise the people who are not going into the congested area)
Provide decent, secure, minimal cost/free parking outside the congested area, with good/regular/cheap public transport
Provide decent, secure, minimal cost/free parking near transport hubs, again with good/regular/cheap public transport
Make public transport free (stop pretending it should be "cost neutral" within itself -factor in effiiency, improved qualit of life, environmental improvements, etc etc.)
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 3, Interesting) by FatPhil on Tuesday April 02 2019, @11:31PM
Tick - I forget the exact hours, but it's early and late
Tick - There exists such parking, but at the moment it's the free market providing that, not "provided" /per se/.
Most of a Tick - Not too many hubs to consider - but air and rail are covered by the above. Not so sure about the busses and arterial roads (I don't use them, I'm already in the centre), but given that there's space closer to the centre, there's probably space further from the centre.
Tick - it's a trick to divert national taxes into the regional economy, but it works for me!
OK, we're small, at nearly 500000 people (we have loads of non-residents in town at all times of year), but none of the above happened by chance, it was a clear "this makes sense in the long run, let's do it even if there's a one-time hit" attitude. Those who say "the rich will not be affected, the poor will be punished" have missed the fact that transport policy is a wider subject with the factors you list and more, and then if correctly implemented, the non-rich will measurably benefit (as measured in person-miles-per-hour, and many other metrics). The rich might even be persuaded to adopt healthier means of transport. I still don't have a car, this system works so well for me. Ditto the majority of my educated and professional close friends.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves