New York City is one-step closer to having a congestion pricing plan after the state’s Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission overwhelmingly recommended an alternative to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s original proposal.
The plan, which has become known as the alternative option, would charge cars $8 and trucks $21 to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street - a change from Bloomberg’s original proposal of 86th Street - during the weekdays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. in order to reduce congestion and improve air quality in the area.
In addition, the plan eliminates the charges traveling within the zone, adds the fee to motorists traveling on the West Side and FDR highways, recommends charging taxis in the zone a $1 surcharge for trips and eliminates resident parking exemptions.
“The commission has designed a congestion pricing system that delivers cleaner air on day one and guarantees transit expansion in all five boroughs and the suburbs,” said Commission member Andy Darrell, Regional Director for the non-profit organization Environmental Defense.
Although the commission voted to approve the plan by a 13-2 vote with one member abstaining and one member not present, not everyone agreed with the plan.
“They took a bad idea, and they made it worse,” said Westchester Assemblymember Richard Brodsky, who along with Manhattan Assemblymember Herman “Denny” Farrell were the two commission members to vote against the plan. “It’s fundamentally unfair to middle class people and fundamentally unfair to the outer boroughs.”
Meanwhile Queens Assemblymember Vivian Cook, who did not attend the commission’s final meeting or vote on the proposal because of a doctor’s appointment, defended her decision.
“I think I made a consideration yesterday for something that I needed to do,” she said. “When I looked around the table at the people sitting there, there was no doubt in my mind that it would pass,” Cook said.
However, she also reiterated her opposition to the plan the commission recommended saying she would have voted against it.
“I knew I would get another bite of the apple because it would come back to Albany,” Cook said, referring to the plan coming to a vote in the state legislature before any plan is implemented.
Meanwhile, Brodsky said he was tremendously disappointed with the commission’s work throughout the entire process.
“The commission did not hold one deliberative session,” he said. “There was no debate; there was no exchange of ideas.”
Yet, Darrell defended the commission’s work and said that the amount of research and input from the public hearings was extraordinary.
“What we have tried to do is analyze the research in depth and arrive at a recommendation that best meets the goals of reducing traffic, improving transit and being fair,” he said.
Queens Assemblymember Rory Lancman, who has been an outspoken critic of congestion pricing since Bloomberg originally unveiled his plan, said the commission’s final report still leaves too many unanswered questions and fails to address a number of concerns.
“The commission essentially passed along the mayor’s original plan with only slight modifications without answering any of the questions, which caused the mayor’s original plan to not move forward over the summer,” he said. “It’s a big disappointment.”
Bloomberg said he accepted the commission’s findings and urged the city council and state legislature to act quickly and meet the March 31 deadline to receive federal funding that would partially pay to implement the congestion pricing plan.
“New York cannot afford to walk away from hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds and a guaranteed revenue stream for the MTA’s capital plan - which is necessary if we’re going to continue to grow and thrive - and we can’t afford to do nothing about traffic choking congestion, which is costing our city billions and polluting our air,” Bloomberg said in a statement.
Bloomberg’s Original Plan
Zone - Northern Boundary 86th Street
Fees - Passenger cars entering Manhattan’s central business district (CBD) would pay $8 with trucks paying $21 Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. through 6 p.m. Certain lower-emission trucks would pay $7.
Intra-zonal Charge - Cars would pay $4 and trucks $5.50 for intra-zonal trips. Trips are free if using peripheral routes.
Direction of Charge - Vehicles would pay the fee entering and leaving the congestion zone
E-ZPass - Vehicles using E-ZPass that go through MTA or Port Authority (PA) tolled crossings on the same day would pay only the difference between their MTA and PA tolls and the congestion charge.
Exemptions - Emergency vehicles, transit vehicles, vehicles with handicapped license plates, taxis and for-hire vehicles would be exempt.
Commission’s final Recommendation
Zone - Northern Boundary – 60th Street
Fees - Passenger cars entering Manhattan’s central business district (CBD) would pay $8 with trucks paying $21 Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. through 6 p.m. Certain lower-emission trucks would pay $7.
Intra-zonal Charge - Cars would pay $4 and trucks $5.50 for intra-zonal trips. Vehicles are charged for using peripheral routes.
Direction of Charge - Vehicles would pay the fee entering congestion zone.
E-ZPass - Vehicles using E-ZPass that go through MTA or Port Authority (PA) tolled crossings on the same day would pay only the difference between their MTA and PA tolls and the congestion charge. Vehicles without E-ZPass would get an additional $1 surcharge.
Exemptions - Emergency vehicles, transit vehicles, vehicles with handicapped license plates would be exempt. Taxis and for-hire vehicles would get charged an additional $1 surcharge.
Supplements - The plan calls for increased on-street parking meter rates within the zone, and the elimination of the resident parking tax exemption for off-street parking garages.
