Bronx transit incentives needed for congestion pricing support
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BY ALEX MITCHELL
New York City residents
could very soon be impacted
by a new scheme called ‘congestion
pricing’ to raise sorelyneeded
transit funds.
The congestion pricing
plan, which targets any vehicle
entering Manhattan below
60th Street, could have farreaching
residual effects on
the outer boroughs as well.
If the governor and state
legislators agree on the terms
to start a congestion pricing
plan, certain Bronx communities
face impacts due to its implementation
and are seeking
remedies that would either
lessen the inconveniences or
improve a number of local
transit shortfalls to make the
plan more tolerable.
Senator Alessandra Biaggi
broached the idea of residential
permit parking for the
Woodlawn community during
a town hall on Tuesday February
19.
Citing specifi c success seen
in areas like Cambridge, MA,
she believes areas like the
northwest Bronx could benefi t
from permit parking on residential
areas. There is concern
that travellers from our
northern counties north of the
city will transfer to one of the
borough’s many Manhattanbound
trains, hence commandeering
limited neighborhood
street parking, in an effort to
avoid the congestive pricing
tolls.
Other Bronx communities
that border Westchester would
require a similar stategy.
Biaggi also explained that
the Metropolitan Transit Authority
is facing a ‘literal crisis’
and that congestion pricing
would only address a ‘tiny
percentage’ of the agency’s
woes.
Meanwhile, Governor
Cuomo is threatening that
without congestion pricing,
MTA fares could possibly leap
as much as 30 percent.
Assemblyman Jeffery Dinowitz
has his own list of transit
cures that address his constituency’s
needs in the result
of congestion pricing.
One of which would be to
relocate the Henry Hudson
Parkway toll from the Bronx-
Manhattan border to the
Bronx-Westchester border.
The plan would relieve
Bronxites from being subject
to as many as four tolls on a
round trip to Manhattan.
Also on the Riverdale legislator’s
agenda would be for all
the IRT and Metro North stations
in his district to have elevator
accessible, specifi cally
the #4 IRT Moshulu Parkway
stop, which is currently in the
design phase.
Community Board 12
would lobby for increased eastwest
bus service. Currently no
MTA bus line provides Co-op
City to Riverdale direct service.
Throggs Neck /Co-op City
state legislator Assemblyman
Michael Benedetto supports
a sliding pricing plan that
would reduce the fee during
evenings and weekends so that
outer borough residents are
not penalized when frequenting
Manhattan for theater,
dining or any other nightlife
activity.
Biaggi stated her support
for a similar deal for senior
and fi xed income residents
during her February town
hall meeting.
Benedetto also wants a
guarantee to improve mass
transportation to transit deserts
such as Co-op City and
Throggs Neck, backed by a
measurable schedule of progress;
and also the installation
of elevators at all the elevated
train stations in his district.
The congestive pricing plan
is estimated to raise about $1.2
billion a year for transit improvements.
The plan’s advocates
are demanding that the
funds generated by the plan be
used for MTA capital improvements
only.
If approved it would take
two to three years to install
the technology required to collect
the tolls.
The south bound I-95 is used by many outer-city drivers. When the congestion
pricing goes into effect, many of these drivers may opt to park
their cars in border communities, such as Pelham Bay and Woodlawn,
and hop on New York City trains to avoid paying the congestion pricing
toll. Schneps Media/Alex Mitchell
/www.maestroscaterers.com
/www.maestroscaterers.com