That is a useful and interesting document. This quote is pertinent: In the vein of addressing some of the equity concerns the FHWA lays out on page 9, the Times article on New York City points out...
Exemplary
That is a useful and interesting document. This quote is pertinent:
This analysis indicates that, if the revenues are used for public transportation, those who gain the most from the pricing scheme are young people, low-income individuals, single people, women, and residents of the inner suburbs. These groups pay relatively little in congestion charges on average and use public transportation more often than do other groups.
In the vein of addressing some of the equity concerns the FHWA lays out on page 9, the Times article on New York City points out the following:
Low-income drivers will get 50 percent off tolls during the day after the first 10 trips in a calendar month
People whose primary residence is inside the tolling district and whose income is below $60,000 would be eligible for a state tax credit equal to the amount of their tolls.
Long-term, reducing car dependency requires transit agencies to provide negative incentives for harmful behaviors (like congestion pricing), not just positive incentives for preferable ones (like the existence of transit, by itself). And long-term, reducing car dependency is one of the most equitable things a city can do. (In this case, NYC's congestion pricing directly funds public transit.)
New York City has the best transit system in North America and one of the best in the world. It's also constantly being expanded and upgraded. I have heard some people express reasonable concern for people who need a car for some very specific purpose or route. I get the sentiment, but it is very hard for me to take seriously such remarks when Lower Manhattan/Midtown in particular is the best-connected part of the city by an enormous margin. Even the "[rail] transit deserts" of New York's outer boroughs have OK bus service (which, BTW, is getting better due to more operational Bus Rapid Transit lanes) to lines that connect to Manhattan. Recently the bike networks in the outer boroughs have also become far more complete and safe. Driving is just not essential. It's New York.
New York's failure to operate through-running regional commuter train service is a glaring problem, but this makes up a pretty small portion of drivers, or at least of drivers who strictly need to go through Lower Manhattan. There is some latent transit demand for this kind of service though, and fortunately given the existence of some through-running infrastructure in Penn Station that Amtrak already uses, it is a largely operational decision that could be rectified moderately quickly.
If anyone has equity related concerns about congestion pricing, a good starting place is the FHWA’s Income-Based Equity Impacts of Congestion Pricing.
That is a useful and interesting document. This quote is pertinent:
In the vein of addressing some of the equity concerns the FHWA lays out on page 9, the Times article on New York City points out the following:
Long-term, reducing car dependency requires transit agencies to provide negative incentives for harmful behaviors (like congestion pricing), not just positive incentives for preferable ones (like the existence of transit, by itself). And long-term, reducing car dependency is one of the most equitable things a city can do. (In this case, NYC's congestion pricing directly funds public transit.)
New York City has the best transit system in North America and one of the best in the world. It's also constantly being expanded and upgraded. I have heard some people express reasonable concern for people who need a car for some very specific purpose or route. I get the sentiment, but it is very hard for me to take seriously such remarks when Lower Manhattan/Midtown in particular is the best-connected part of the city by an enormous margin. Even the "[rail] transit deserts" of New York's outer boroughs have OK bus service (which, BTW, is getting better due to more operational Bus Rapid Transit lanes) to lines that connect to Manhattan. Recently the bike networks in the outer boroughs have also become far more complete and safe. Driving is just not essential. It's New York.
New York's failure to operate through-running regional commuter train service is a glaring problem, but this makes up a pretty small portion of drivers, or at least of drivers who strictly need to go through Lower Manhattan. There is some latent transit demand for this kind of service though, and fortunately given the existence of some through-running infrastructure in Penn Station that Amtrak already uses, it is a largely operational decision that could be rectified moderately quickly.
Nice! I was confused by the headline because in DMV area the EZPass lanes have flex pricing that I have seen crawl over $28 for a few miles.
Mirror, for those hit by the paywall:
https://archive.is/PwTTC
Finally.