NY mayor aims to price motorists out of Manhattan
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg aims to price rush-hour drivers out of Manhattan with an $8 fee, borrowing from traffic and air quality strategies used in London and Singapore.
The fee would be a first in the United States and add an expense to what is already one of the nation's costliest cities.
The Republican mayor who banned trans fats in restaurant food and cigarette smoking in bars and restaurants is again promoting what he calls a health initiative.
"Just take a look at our kids in some of our poor neighborhoods who go to hospitals with asthma rates that are four times the national rate. Every day it gets worse," Bloomberg said.
"It will clean up our air and it will improve our economy."
The proposal to charge fees for driving in Manhattan south of 86th Street was one of 127 energy-saving and emission-cutting plans that Bloomberg unveiled on Earth Day last Sunday. Trucks would pay $21.
Motorists could be charged via electronic tags, for example, and the city could enforce the law by installing cameras to photograph license plates.
The mayor aims to win over critics by spending the toll revenue -- around $500 million a year -- on $30 billion worth of tunnels, commuter railroads, subways and buses.
The biggest U.S. city needs these huge projects to meet the demands of a population forecast to grow by 1 million people to more than 9 million by 2030, Bloomberg said.
A recent survey of 500 drivers by the business group Partnership for New York City showed 43 percent of commuters favored the fee and 51 percent were opposed.
Bloomberg aides say they are eager to work with the state of New York, which won the power to set many city policies in return for a mid-1970s fiscal bailout.
Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer has said the mayor's strategy requires "enormous analysis."
OPPONENTS LINE UP
Some Democratic and Republican lawmakers have already opposed it, saying New Yorkers who live outside Manhattan must drive because subways and buses take too long.
Other suburban lawmakers who represent "bridge and tunnel" commuters call Bloomberg's plan an outrage because they believe public streets should stay free of charge. Continued...
Long before Earth Day, Bloomberg locked up support from more than 70 business, environmental and civic groups, in part by bundling congestion pricing with a larger environmental plan that calls for 1 million new trees, additional parks and plazas, and slashing emissions by 30 percent by 2030.
Officials in London and Singapore consider their schemes a success, saying drivers have turned to mass transit.
London has used congestion pricing since 2003 and doubled the size of its zone in February. It now charges 8 pounds, which converts to about $16 or twice what New Yorkers would pay. Traffic is down about 10 percent since the program started, London officials say.
Singapore's plan dates to 1975 and charges varying rates throughout the day that range from about 30 cents to $1.90.
The fee would be a first in the United States and add an expense to what is already one of the nation's costliest cities.
The Republican mayor who banned trans fats in restaurant food and cigarette smoking in bars and restaurants is again promoting what he calls a health initiative.
"Just take a look at our kids in some of our poor neighborhoods who go to hospitals with asthma rates that are four times the national rate. Every day it gets worse," Bloomberg said.
"It will clean up our air and it will improve our economy."
The proposal to charge fees for driving in Manhattan south of 86th Street was one of 127 energy-saving and emission-cutting plans that Bloomberg unveiled on Earth Day last Sunday. Trucks would pay $21.
Motorists could be charged via electronic tags, for example, and the city could enforce the law by installing cameras to photograph license plates.
The mayor aims to win over critics by spending the toll revenue -- around $500 million a year -- on $30 billion worth of tunnels, commuter railroads, subways and buses.
The biggest U.S. city needs these huge projects to meet the demands of a population forecast to grow by 1 million people to more than 9 million by 2030, Bloomberg said.
A recent survey of 500 drivers by the business group Partnership for New York City showed 43 percent of commuters favored the fee and 51 percent were opposed.
Bloomberg aides say they are eager to work with the state of New York, which won the power to set many city policies in return for a mid-1970s fiscal bailout.
Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer has said the mayor's strategy requires "enormous analysis."
OPPONENTS LINE UP
Some Democratic and Republican lawmakers have already opposed it, saying New Yorkers who live outside Manhattan must drive because subways and buses take too long.
Other suburban lawmakers who represent "bridge and tunnel" commuters call Bloomberg's plan an outrage because they believe public streets should stay free of charge. Continued...
Long before Earth Day, Bloomberg locked up support from more than 70 business, environmental and civic groups, in part by bundling congestion pricing with a larger environmental plan that calls for 1 million new trees, additional parks and plazas, and slashing emissions by 30 percent by 2030.
Officials in London and Singapore consider their schemes a success, saying drivers have turned to mass transit.
London has used congestion pricing since 2003 and doubled the size of its zone in February. It now charges 8 pounds, which converts to about $16 or twice what New Yorkers would pay. Traffic is down about 10 percent since the program started, London officials say.
Singapore's plan dates to 1975 and charges varying rates throughout the day that range from about 30 cents to $1.90.
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Bloomberg is an a**,..........bet NY'ers wished they had Rudy back. 0 -
he was elected, not appointed. people deserve their government. 0 -
You got me on that one,.......but Rudy was not running again. The usual thing,......lesser of the "evils".
I still say he is a pompous a** though. Thinks he is "nobility".
Russian,.........did you get the links for the $$$ cases I posted?0 -
The nanny state strikes again. Say hello to Big Mother. 0 -
If you have ever been to New York city, the proposal makes sense. The traffic congestion there has to be seen to be believed. 0 -
If I lived there, I would be searching for a job to get the heck outa that massive traffic jam!
I guess you have to grow up in a place like that to be attracted to the lifestyle.0 -
What's the problem? I was just driving through that rats' nest last week. They have extensive intermodal transportation options and they just aren't used. I also drove out to long Island, on an eight lane wide highway, each direction had a Carpool lane, they were practically empty, traffic in all other lanes was practically stopped.
And we're talking about driving here, roads are a government provided convience. If you read the article NYC's population is going to be over 9 million by 2030, pretty obvious that you have to take some sort of action to just continue to be able to provide basic city infrastructure services such as EMS, school buses, etc.0 -
Rush-hour traffic jams out of Manhattan are no worse than Chicago, Philadelphia, or just about any other big city that I know of. matter of fact Los Angeles isn't the worst any more.
[:D]0 -
If they shipped out the criminal aliens, there would be a LOT less congestion.
Doug0 -
The domestic enemy is there for all to see in NY. Most have been conditioned to accept, and/or support a government such as Bloomberg's.
Can anyone say "harbinger of things to come"????
Everyone really needs to look at the big picture on this stuff, not as isolated instances, i.e.:
*Massive growth of govt.
*Increasing loss of individual freedoms.
*Continuing erosion of the US Constitution.
*Escalating indoctrination of children.
*Overwhelming bias in the major media in covert support of the above.
*Massive immigration increases, primarily from nations that are clueless about freedom.
*Deliberate allowance of the flood of illegal aliens from the third world, again, where freedom is an alien concept.
*Constant attack on "traditional" American culture.
*Less and less knowledge by the populace about the history of this nation and particularly, the US Constitution and Bill of Rights.
*The continuing rush toward "globalization" and the union of nations into spheres of influence.....Trilateralist stratagy?
*A drive to turn America into a "service" oriented/consumer oriented economy.
*Escalating efforts to disarm the American Populace. Nothing can be finalized if there is an informed and armed America.
The list goes on and on, but it should be understood that this is all part of a larger plan.0 -
I can only compare New York with Chicago for traffic problems. New York is much worse than Chicago. The worst, in my experience, is Atlanta.
For its size, I465 around Indianapolis is really bad and getting worse.0 -
Elect Bloomberg President!
Maybe then he'll charge the illegals out of the U.S.[:o)]0 -
London's method of enforcing the congestion charge is by using number plate (license plate) recognition cameras. If New York copies London how long before we see this?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/15/vehicle_movement_database/0
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