New York’s city council took a bold step yesterday to relieve traffic in Manhattan by approving Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s "congestion pricing" proposal to charge motorists who enter the city’s busiest sections on weekdays.
The council voted 30 to 20 to approve the plan, which proponents say will increase funding and use of the city’s public transportation, while improving air quality and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles idling in traffic.
The plan must now be approved by the state’s legislature and the governor. The U.S. Department of Transportation has offered the state $354 million in mass transit aid if the plan is approved by April 7.
As proposed, the plan would charge cars $8 to enter the "congestion zone" south of 60th Street from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Trucks would be charged $21 dollars (low-emissions trucks, only $7), motorcylces and scooters would pay $4, and taxis and limousines would be assessed a $1 surcharge for each trip beginning or ending within the zone.
The fees, would be registered by electronic toll monitors and license-plate reading cameras. Drivers would be required to pay within four days by Internet, mail or the city’s E-ZPass program.
Congestion pricing has yet to be employed on urban surface streets in the U.S., though it has become more common worldwide in recent years, with cities like London, Paris, Stockholm, Milan and Singapore enacting plans to reduce city driving.
New Jersey Governor, Jon Corzine, said he may take legal action against the plan, which will cost New Jersey residents even more than the bridge and tunnel fees they already pay to get into the city.
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