Congestion tolls are
A plan worth getting behind — as long as pols keep their promises
For more than a decade now, the
movement to institute congestion
pricing in New York City has been
proposed, debated, and ultimately
killed over and over again. But this
time, it appears that the controversial
proposal is fi nally going to become
a reality.
As this newspaper went to press this
week, it was reported that Democrats
in the Legislature appeared to have
enough votes in favor of congestion
pricing to include it in the budget that’s
still being hammered out. Lawmakers
have until April 1 to get a budget
deal done.
What this means is that very soon,
anyone crossing an East River bridge
into Manhattan, or traveling south
of 60th Street in Manhattan, will be
charged a toll. The revenue generated
from this plan will be used to fund
much-needed public transit improvements,
even though it’s hoped that congestion
pricing will encourage more
people to leave their cars at home
when traveling to Manhattan, thereby
reducing traffi c volume.
The plan would only affect between
one and two percent of Kings Countians
who drive into the distant isle of
Manhattan, according to analysts.
Proponents of the decades-old idea
say it would both reduce the amount
of cars on the road and provide about
$15 billion annually to the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority to fund
improvements to the city’s beleaguered
subway system, according to a rep for
the independent Regional Plan Association,
who on last week’s episode of
Brooklyn Paper Radio said the pricing
scheme would impact only 1.3 percent
of Brooklynites.
Data compiled by pro-congestion
pricing group Tri-State Transportation
Campaign predicted a slightly higher
impact on the Borough of Churches, estimating
that 2.4 percent of local commuters
would regularly pay the charge.
But more than 60 percent of Brooklynites
take public transit, and would
benefi t from improvements to that system,
according to the organization.
Opponents of the plan say it’s just
another undue expense that would
drain more money out of middle-class
pockets. A few critics also argue that
imposing the tolls would turn bridgeadjacent
neighborhoods like Brooklyn
Heights, Williamsburg, and Downtown
into parking lots for commuters who
would ditch their cars there, and then
hop on subways to avoid paying the fee.
And, of course, skepticism abounds
over whether the state will allow these
EDITORIAL
funds to truly be used for public-transit
projects, or whether this becomes just
another revenue stream from which
to pilfer.
But the woeful state of the city’s public
transit system, combined with the
stark increase in traffi c volume in recent
years, have made congestion pricing
a necessary evil in the eyes of many.
Still, it needs to come with changes for
the Transportation Authority and for
Brooklyn commuters alike.
Prior to the tolls being implemented,
city offi cials must look to expand
the NYC Ferry Service to even more
coastal neighborhoods, such as Canarsie,
where residents for years have said
a boat would provide a needed alternative
for commuting in Brooklyn and beyond.
The recently announced stop in
Coney Island is simply not enough.
And the state-run Transportation
Authority must do more to trim the fat
from its corporate budget. The overhead
in the agency is staggering; more than
a quarter of all employees earns in excess
of $100,000 a year, at a time that the
authority faces an unprecedented defi -
cit. Leadership must be held accountable
to cut costs as the public is asked to
pay more for improvements.
For this plan to be truly palatable
to all Brooklyn residents, the city and
COURIER LIFE, M 28 ARCH 29–APRIL 4, 2019 M BR B G
What you need
While the chips have yet to fall
on congestion pricing, April
1 is the deadline for the Legislature
to approve a budget including
the proposal, which has been
heralded as the best option for providing
the state-run Metropolitan
Transportation Authority with the
estimated $40 billion it needs to dramatically
modernize the subway
system.
Not only does the antiquated
transit system need extensive, system
wide overhauls, but the agency
is facing a steep decline in ridership
as a $1-billion defi cit looms in 2022.
As legislators decide whether or not
to vote to include congestion pricing
in Gov. Cuomo’s 2020 executive budget
before it is due next month, here
are some things you should know
about the scheme:
• The cost to drivers has not been
decided upon by lawmakers or the
Transportation Authority. An early
proposal by Cuomo’s so-called Fix
NYC panel released in January 2018
suggested charging passenger cars
entering Manhattan up to $11 during
business hours. Trucks would
have to pay about $25 to conduct
business between boroughs, according
to that proposal
• The governor’s offi ce has outlined
a central business district in
Manhattan below 60th Street as the
boundary for where drivers to expect
to pay to access. Traditionally
free East River bridges would not be
directly tolled, according to early
projections, unless drivers follow
routes continuing into the central
business district. But a clear defi nition
of where gantries for cashless
tolling would be placed has not been
established.
• Congestion pricing has been
projected to provide about $15 billion
for the Transportation Authority’s
next capital plan, which encompasses
2020 through 2024. Those
funds could go a long way toward