Congestion Pricing Quick Snapshot
4/5/18
If you’re like us, you’ve been warily reading about proposed “congestion pricing” plans for cars in Manhattan’s central business district. Also, if you’re like us, you’re considering what the impact of these plans might be on Broadway.
Two plans have been under consideration by Governor Cuomo in advance of the New York state budget, and although most congestion pricing has been postponed for another year (at least), new fees will be implemented shortly for taxis and car services like UBER and Lyft.
The plans put forward have two connected, but distinct, goals: one is to reduce traffic in the central business district of Manhattan, and the other is to generate substantial new funds from cars to pay for much-needed improvements to the city’s transit system.
The proposals now on the table provide for what is essentially a credit for people using the trans-Hudson crossings: the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels and the GWB. So those Broadway patrons would not see any increase in fees. On the other hand, people who have used the free bridges (Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg, Queensboro) and have not paid tolls to travel to midtown will have new fees.
Anyone who uses MTA buses and subways knows that improvements are long overdue, and at this point, urgent. As the debate on congestion pricing plays out, it’s important to remember that there can be many options about how to raise government funds to pay for these transit improvements, congestion pricing being only one of them.
And some would argue that if our transit system were demonstrably better, people would naturally gravitate to its use, rather than drive a car in a crowded city with increasing population—and increasing popularity with visitors from around the world.
For more information on the Shubert Organization, visit www.shubert.nyc.
Two plans have been under consideration by Governor Cuomo in advance of the New York state budget, and although most congestion pricing has been postponed for another year (at least), new fees will be implemented shortly for taxis and car services like UBER and Lyft.
The plans put forward have two connected, but distinct, goals: one is to reduce traffic in the central business district of Manhattan, and the other is to generate substantial new funds from cars to pay for much-needed improvements to the city’s transit system.
The proposals now on the table provide for what is essentially a credit for people using the trans-Hudson crossings: the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels and the GWB. So those Broadway patrons would not see any increase in fees. On the other hand, people who have used the free bridges (Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg, Queensboro) and have not paid tolls to travel to midtown will have new fees.
Anyone who uses MTA buses and subways knows that improvements are long overdue, and at this point, urgent. As the debate on congestion pricing plays out, it’s important to remember that there can be many options about how to raise government funds to pay for these transit improvements, congestion pricing being only one of them.
And some would argue that if our transit system were demonstrably better, people would naturally gravitate to its use, rather than drive a car in a crowded city with increasing population—and increasing popularity with visitors from around the world.
For more information on the Shubert Organization, visit www.shubert.nyc.