Crossing midtown by car is soul-destroying. Will congestion-pricing help?
congestion is among the worst in the world, according to an advisory panel’s report published in January last year. Crossing midtown by car is soul-destroying. In 2016 the average speed was 4.7 miles per hour, not much quicker than a brisk stroll. But relief is in sight. On April 1st , state lawmakers agreed to implement congestion-pricing, making New York the first big American city to do so. By 2021 vehicles will have to pay to enter Manhattan south of 60th street.
Similar proposals go back 50 years but have always stalled. The Regional Plan Association proposed road-pricing in 1996. Michael Bloomberg’s 2007 plan was not even debated on the state legislature floor. This time, with Andrew Cuomo, the state governor, at the wheel and Bill de Blasio, New York’s mayor, riding shotgun, it looks as if this time is different.Much of the detail, including how much drivers will have to pay, how they will pay and how often they will pay, have yet to be decided.
If done right, congestion-pricing could be expanded beyond Manhattan. New York can learn from other cities. Singapore, for instance, which has had pricing for decades, adjusts prices regularly. It can also learn from mistakes. London, which rolled out its pricing in 2003, bizarrely is only starting to charge on-demand car hires like Uber. Stockholm exempted too many vehicles, which caused a drop in fee revenue.
Other car-clogged cities considering tolls, including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle, are watching New York. A mayor-appointed task force in Boston recommended a $5 fee, but so far Marty Walsh, the mayor, is pumping the breaks. “We really have to be a good example,” says Nicole Gelinas of the Manhattan Institute, a New York think-tank.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Police killing of pipe-wielding NYC man called legal
Read more »
Man convicted of killing woman out running in NYC parkNEW YORK (AP) — A man has been convicted of killing a woman out running near her New York City home in a case that stirred urban fears. A Queens jury delivered its verdict Monday night in...
Read more »
A Trader Joe's employee reveals 4 things you've always wanted to know about the storeA Trader Joe's employee reveals 4 things you've always wanted to know about the store via CNBCMakeIt
Read more »
An $88 million mansion in NYC with a panic room and a Versailles-inspired dining room has gotten a $26 million price chop and it's still not selling — take a look insideThe townhouse on NYC's Upper East Side, steps from Central Park, was originally listed for $114 million in 2013. Now, it's for sale for $88 million.
Read more »
Amazon is using smaller warehouses in big cities to efficiently fulfill ordersAmazon's NYC warehouse is 20% smaller than its average locations — but able to facilitate 50% more inventory using twice as many human and robot workers:
Read more »
NYC is getting so expensive that even Wall Street bankers are bolting — and it's not the only major city the wealthy are abandoningA high cost of living and high taxes are causing multimillionaires like wealthy bankers to flee New York City, according to The New York Post.
Read more »
It takes a $300,000 salary to be middle class in cities like San Francisco and NYC, and a financial expert gives the 'sad' breakdown of whyHouseholds need to earn $300,000 a year to live a middle-class lifestyle — and here's the budget breakdown of why (via financialsamura)
Read more »