TransitCenter’s Post

As we navigate the bustling streets of our cities, the issue of congestion pricing is becoming increasingly pivotal. I'd love to get your thoughts on whether you believe congestion pricing effectively addresses city congestion or if it merely acts as a temporary fix. Drawing from my own experiences, commuting between New Jersey and NYC has always been a journey of patience and budgeting. Passing through the Holland Tunnel costs about $14, and now, with NYC's new congestion pricing, there's an additional fee just for entering Lower Manhattan. This makes me ponder: is congestion pricing truly the optimal solution for our traffic woes? Take London, for instance. Despite their congestion pricing model, their traffic congestion is still notably more severe than NYC's. This begs the question: Are we missing a more comprehensive solution to urban traffic management? I'm eager to hear your perspectives. Do you think congestion pricing is the way forward, or should we explore alternative strategies? Let's dive into this discussion and share our experiences and insights. Looking forward to reading your thoughts.

More on New York's last-minute and apparently fly-by-night scrapping of plans for a congestion charge, via the Governor's order. I've already joked to one New Yorker that this is just the latest example of "Kelcey's First Law of City Politics" at work (no big decision in city politics is ever made only once). But it also confirms the accelerating trend of North American governments appeasing driver hostility to place-based tolls and charges, regardless of the short term cost. How long before Canadian and US tolls become an extinct species? https://lnkd.in/gBpk9nXJ

⚠️ SCOOP: Governor Phil Murphy expressed strong opposition to New York's congestion pricing plan during the final MTA hearing, highlighting concerns over the program's impact on New Jersey commuters and the environment. He criticized the proposed $15 toll as burdensome and counterproductive, arguing it would merely shift traffic and pollution to New Jersey without addressing the underlying issues of congestion and MTA's financial deficit. Murphy advocated for a reconsideration of the plan and proposed adjustments to make it more equitable and less harmful. 🚛 If New York's congestion pricing is implemented, industrial occupiers in Bergen and Hudson Counties delivering goods to NYC will face significant challenges due to the $15 toll for vehicles entering Manhattan south of 60th Street. This policy would increase operating costs, introduce logistical complexities, exacerbate traffic congestion in New Jersey, and potentially disrupt established supply chains. Your thoughts? 💭

🌎 🌱 Last week my colleagues and I voted to move New York! As a Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board Member, I was proud to to advance Congestion Pricing into the public toll setting process. Personally, I had the opportunity to work on the legislative push as well as the initial policy and infrastructure framework, alongside some great minds at MTA Bridges & Tunnels. We've had a public debate about the need for this policy for decades and I'm thankful to the 30+ community, advocacy and EJ groups at #CongestionPricingNow for keeping the drumbeat going! This program alleviates New York City's congested streets below 60th Street and ensures the longevity of our public transit system. This will make our air clearer and our roads safer. What an unprecedented climate initiative for New York City. Incredible work by the Traffic Mobility Review Board's whose job it was to recommend a framework and the MTA and NYCDOT staff who were part of the team. I appreciated their enhanced focus to provide discounts for low-income drivers and overnight shift workers. (The detailed framework: https://lnkd.in/etb5rbwp). We've learned so much from leaders and operators in London, Stockholm, and Singapore who put these policies into action decades ago. As a Board Member, I hope to work alongside the MTA on a monitoring and evaluation program is world-class. Working in partnership with so many folks will be critical. There is more work ahead. Thanks to the leadership of New York Governor Kathy Hochul and her team, U.S. Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration, New York City Department of Transportation and NYSDOT. We are entering a new phase in the public process including public hearings, we'd love to hear from you. More on that soon. Go to https://lnkd.in/eth5m25Z to learn more. #livablecities #transportation #congestion #mobilityforall #publictransit #climatecrisis #decarbonization #vmt

Perhaps I paid too much attention in economics class? But shouldn't the public discussion about congestion pricing in NYC be more focused on what price is appropriate versus the whole idea of congestion pricing? It has been shown in many cities that congestion pricing generates revenue which can be used for public transit projects, reduces traffic in the city, and speeds up the movement of traffic. The big unknown is what the relationship is between price and these proven outcomes. So why was price not part of the political discussion? https://lnkd.in/eQ3RaP-R

One Good Text* on congestion pricing: Tim McDonnell: How big of a setback for climate-centric urban planning is New York Gov. Hochul's decision to suspend traffic congestion pricing in Manhattan? Gernot Wagner: This 11th-hour betrayal is a major setback for climate policy in more ways than one. And that begins with the framing. More cars in NYC does not help New York's economy. The status quo means drivers themselves wasting umpteen hours stuck in traffic, to say nothing of the negative social costs each driver imposes on everyone else. Gov. Hochul has framed her complete, last-minute reversal as somehow helping New York businesses. It does not. Ask business owners up and down the now pedestrianized Broadway. Change is hard, but there is a better way than letting the most compact, walkable, and transit-rich city in the US succumb to out-of-control traffic. https://lnkd.in/esbwEt7x * full disclosure: it was an email

I love that I got to be a part of this article with one of the best transit partners-in-crime, Jaqi Cohen! Having partners like her and so many others is what keeps me going even when good policy decisions are reversed. Congestion pricing gives people in urban communities a breather—literally and figuratively—by reducing traffic, improving air quality, and increasing resources for public transit. Its “indefinite pause” is no cause for celebration. https://lnkd.in/ejbYMuYx

Task Force Meets to Address the Future of California Transit: California's Transit Transformation Task Force must address a wide range of issues. Here are three that are crucial, from the perspective of one of the task force members. Read more: https://bit.ly/3RFKf0U

This summer's going to be a hot one. Transportation is the largest source of GHG emissions and at this point, we just don't have another 50 years to decide whether congestion pricing is worth implementing. We can follow in the footsteps of cities like London and Singapore who have successfully implemented congestion charges, or we can bear the costs (gridlock, sea level rise, increased air pollution, greater road fatalities, the list goes on...).

Congestion pricing was supposed to start today in New York City. It didn't after Gov. Kathy Hochul earlier this month announced an indefinite pause. My latest article in The Wall Street Journal traces the rise and pause of congestion pricing — a tale that involves 17 years and around $700 million. The abrupt reversal, which some attribute to Hochul’s reluctance to impose a new fee in an election year, leaves metro New York grappling with a historic missed opportunity and fiscal mess. There is no relief in sight for the city’s traffic congestion, which is the worst in the world, according to data published last week. The epic collapse in New York shows how a fear of dramatic change can give the status quo stubborn power over those trying to solve some of America’s most intractable challenges. That leaves policymakers nibbling at the edges of deeply rooted problems, even after investing huge sums of money and political capital. Blown up in a New York minute were plans for around $15 billion of planned improvements to the city’s ailing mass-transit system, the largest transportation network in North America. The reversal cast aside around $700 million in meticulous prep work, including a $555-million contract to install tolling cameras—which are already up and ready to go—and $33 million for a customer-service center with 100 employees who have already been brought on, officials said. Planners invested thousands of hours, including going to London and Stockholm to research their congestion-pricing programs, according to people familiar with the travel. What was supposed to be a transformative moment when New York led the way and boldly tackled traffic congestion, air pollution and transit funding, has instead turned into a surprising loss for a broad coalition that includes major employers, real-estate developers and subway riders. Surprised by the reversal were Hochul’s own lieutenants, including Janno Lieber, a fierce champion of congestion pricing and the chief executive of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The MTA—which carries around 5.5 million passengers each day in the New York metro area—now faces a $16.5 billion-financial hole from the loss of money from congestion pricing and federal matching funds. Just days after Hochul’s announcement, a beleaguered Lieber joined a conference call with advocates in which he said he was equally shocked and remained committed to the program, three people familiar with the exchange said. “This is devastating,” he said, according to a person on the call. Here's the latest from me and Joseph De Avila —>