New York City will be the first in the nation to implement the measure.
With a green light from the Federal Highway Administration, the state of New York will start charging congestion pricing for motorists looking to enter the Manhattan Central Business District. It’s the first plan of this kind in the U.S. but is something that’s been used elsewhere before as a way to discourage people from driving in certain areas. Still, not everyone is convinced this is a great way to manage any metropolitan traffic flow. (RELATED: Dem Mayor Keeps Doctored Photo Of Murdered Cop To Appeal To ‘Working-Class Base’)
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According to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, this plan will “reduce traffic in our crowded downtown, improve air quality and provide critical resources to the MTA.” In other words, cars are allegedly a large contributor to crowding and air pollution on Manhattan, plus mass transit doesn’t have enough resources as is. People, of course, have opinions on those points.
We’re more concerned about how NPR excitedly published an interview all about other cities considering doing something similar now that the federal government has okayed it. We know even midsize cities in the US have tried to take away traffic lanes, introduced light rail, expanded bike lanes and eliminated parking options all to discourage people from driving in downtown areas. This might be the next weapon used in their growing arsenal.
The reality is whenever you put a price on activities, it’s going to affect the poor the most and the wealthy the least. That should be intuitively known by all, yet some seem shocked by the revelation. Does that then make congestion pricing immoral? What about just regular toll roads? Or gas tax? Where is the line of fairness? (RELATED: Republicans Reveal Latest Tax Code Simplification Plan)
Usually, the response is that beefing up mass transit will provide equality, especially for the poor, making it unnecessary to own a car. While one could argue that in compact cities like New York or San Francisco, a good portion of the U.S. is in areas where cities are far more spread out. Yet we strongly suspect metropolitan centers in those areas will try to implement a similar plan as they try creating landlocked, miniature New York Cities.
Of course, the justification will be something about saving the planet by stopping people from driving their cars, plus wealth inequality and maybe a few other talking points. The result could be a reversal of many downtown revitalization projects from the past decade-plus as these metropolitan centers once again become a place others in the area avoid visiting.
This article originally appeared in The Auto Wire. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News. Republished with permission.
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Get rid of the downtown businesses, get rid of the tall buildings. I doubt most people like to drive in wacky traffic most big cities get anyway. Maybe all those 4 lane highways leading to the big cities weren’t such a good idea after all.
Petey says those highways are racist anyway!
Anything to EFF the people! Its what demorats do!
Democrats have never met a tax they didn’t like.
Good add: Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Albany, Trenton, Detroit
Mass transit is not feasible for some people. It would have added two or three hours to my work day when I could ride the bus and it would require multiple transfers. In addition, the road near our office closed at 6PM so if I was working late there would be no bus service. Some of this after hours work was not scheduled. Also, we were periodically called to respond to other locations that may not have been readily available by bus.
I’m curious how see how they are going to implement it. Toll booths at each and every street in a ring around the CBD? They already have tolls on the bridges and tunnels going into Manhattan. But not all of Manhattan is a Central Business District. And most of the traffic in Midtown is taxi cabs, limos, buses and delivery trucks.
Hmmmm…..Logistics, implementation, reality. Should be interesting.
There are already multitudinous reasons to steer clear of New York City. This is but another one. ‘Escape from New York’ is coming true with a vengeance.