Boundaries are a tricky business in New York City, as anyone drawing a neighborhood map or browsing for an apartment on Craigslist will tell you. The Upper East Side turns into East Harlem at 96th Street, sure. And SoHo is south of Houston, that’s an easy one.
But where is Midtown? And, even more vexing for planners considering the mayor’s proposed congestion pricing plan, where is the city’s central business district? And how should the boundaries of the toll zone that drivers have to pay to enter on weekdays correspond to the (possibly undefined) boundaries of those amorphous regions? These are the kind of questions City Hall’s planners wrestled with before setting the zone’s northern boundary at 86th Street –- though that designation is far from final.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan got a boost today from the governor and the United States secretary of transportation, who announced that New York City was one of nine finalists for a share of $1.1 billion in federal money intended to fight traffic in major urban areas.
http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/congestionpricing/index.htm
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Good OR Bad
Good or bad? Let’s hope good!
Let’s backup. What is congestion pricing? Good question. Congestion pricing is the theory of charging a fee to drive in congested areas of NYC during peak traffic times.
In this case, rumour has it that Mayor Bloomberg is looking to have everywhere below 86th Street fall in the “fee” zone. Right now, the proposal may be $8 to get
down there. How the fee would be collected is still up in the air. Boy would toll booths suck!
Anyway, the idea is to 1) relieve traffic, and 2) improve the environmental quality of the city. It is forecasted that by 2030, an additional million people will be in the city.
But, people still need to get places, right? So that means people will be more likely to take public transportation. That’s the goal anyway. And everyone’s favorite public transportation method is the subway.
So is this a good thing or a bad thing?
On the bad side:
-More people means more crowds
-More wear and tear
-Slower commute
On the plus side:
-More subway revenue
-More an implied need for more service
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2007/05/spitzer_is_procongestion_prici.html
Let’s backup. What is congestion pricing? Good question. Congestion pricing is the theory of charging a fee to drive in congested areas of NYC during peak traffic times.
In this case, rumour has it that Mayor Bloomberg is looking to have everywhere below 86th Street fall in the “fee” zone. Right now, the proposal may be $8 to get
down there. How the fee would be collected is still up in the air. Boy would toll booths suck!
Anyway, the idea is to 1) relieve traffic, and 2) improve the environmental quality of the city. It is forecasted that by 2030, an additional million people will be in the city.
But, people still need to get places, right? So that means people will be more likely to take public transportation. That’s the goal anyway. And everyone’s favorite public transportation method is the subway.
So is this a good thing or a bad thing?
On the bad side:
-More people means more crowds
-More wear and tear
-Slower commute
On the plus side:
-More subway revenue
-More an implied need for more service
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2007/05/spitzer_is_procongestion_prici.html
Monday, November 12, 2007
Goals of Congestion Pricing
The congestion goal provoked the greatest volume of public comments. There is widespread acknowledgement among the comments that the current system is greatly overloaded and requires some degree of expansion. Comments disagree, however, over what degree and type of expansion will be required. Most comments address particular deficiencies in the current road and public transit system, but some advocate a radical shift in transit priorities such as entirely banning passenger vehicles, constructing a parallel light-rail or monorail system, or building borough "superhighways." Comments acknowledge the compatibility of the congestion goal with the air quality, climate change, and energy goals.
On this site it discusses Plan 2030 and Congestion Pricing
Is Congestion Princing A Good Plan to add to New York City????
Many People feel that this plan is unnessacary. But the traffic alone is alot if you look on manhatthan streets its bumper to bumper and it cause many people to be late for work. Mayor Bloomberg believes that this plan will make a big difference.
So i decided to ask the people around me what they think is best for the city.
Hazzeltine Parks: " I think this Princing thing is a good thing because the city will be making enough money to put money in the Education part of the city because the budget doesnt do that for the New York City students"
Senena Martin: " I think it is a bad ideas because we pay enough money in taxes and i feel that i shouldnt pay a toll to move around my own city if i wanted to do that i would go on the high way. Mayor Bloomberg people everything he does is a good idea"
I have gotten two points of view and i think they both make excellent point but as New Yorkers we have to speak up to get what we need and want for our city.
Many People feel that this plan is unnessacary. But the traffic alone is alot if you look on manhatthan streets its bumper to bumper and it cause many people to be late for work. Mayor Bloomberg believes that this plan will make a big difference.
So i decided to ask the people around me what they think is best for the city.
Hazzeltine Parks: " I think this Princing thing is a good thing because the city will be making enough money to put money in the Education part of the city because the budget doesnt do that for the New York City students"
Senena Martin: " I think it is a bad ideas because we pay enough money in taxes and i feel that i shouldnt pay a toll to move around my own city if i wanted to do that i would go on the high way. Mayor Bloomberg people everything he does is a good idea"
I have gotten two points of view and i think they both make excellent point but as New Yorkers we have to speak up to get what we need and want for our city.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Drivers who use toll crossings to or from the zone would be charged the difference between the toll and the congestion charge. The charge would apply on weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Proposed fees would be $8 for cars and commercial vehicles and $21 for trucks entering from outside or leaving from inside the zone. For drivers traveling within the zone, $5.50 would be charged for trucks and $4 for other vehicles. Transit buses, emergency vehicles, taxis and for-hire vehicles, and vehicles with handicapped license plates would not be charged the fee. Vehicles would be charged only once per day.
Operations for watching vehicles within the congestion zone will be barrier-free and includes E-ZPass transponders and a license plate recognition system that involves cameras. Drivers would be able to pay by a debit from their E-ZPass account or a debit from a pre-paid non-EZPass account linked to the vehicle's license plate number. For drivers without traffic payment accounts, they would have 48 hours to pay by phone, the Internet, text messaging, or cash transactions at participating retailers.
Operations for watching vehicles within the congestion zone will be barrier-free and includes E-ZPass transponders and a license plate recognition system that involves cameras. Drivers would be able to pay by a debit from their E-ZPass account or a debit from a pre-paid non-EZPass account linked to the vehicle's license plate number. For drivers without traffic payment accounts, they would have 48 hours to pay by phone, the Internet, text messaging, or cash transactions at participating retailers.
Mayor Bloomberg recently flew to London to view the new congestion pricing plan there which is when the people pay to enter certain zones in the city. Mayor Bloomberg wants to use that plan here in New York City. They believe this plan will lower traffic by 20% in NYC. The Congestion Pricing plan will affect the quality of life, health and environment. This plan will help people understand if we work together for a common change then will save and protect many lives. This plan may see expensive or unreasonable but the toll money may be used to build schools, pay city workers and maybe every make the roads better.
Congestion Pricing will change the quality of life so much, the traffic will be down and people will be able to walk thru peacefully. The streets of NYC are congested and dangerous. Many people have road rage because of the traffic. If people paid to get into Manhattan people may car pool or leave there car home. If you walked outside in the city of Manhattan during rush hour you will think they were giving something away for free. There are too many cars and it seems there is no space for them. I believe this plan will make many people happy and upset but it’s for the good.
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