Bloomberg proposes a fee for driving in Manhattan.

NNadir

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Sun Apr-22-07 06:52 PM
Original message

Bloomberg proposes a fee for driving in Manhattan.

Edited on Sun Apr-22-07 07:10 PM by NNadir

Saying that he would not spend his final term in office “pretending that all is fine,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg made a series of Earth Day proposals this afternoon to improve the environment of New York City, including charging a new congestion fee to drivers who come into parts of Manhattan during peak hours during weekdays.

The $8 congestion fee was one of 127 initiatives included in a sweeping plan by the mayor to help the city of currently 8.2 million people cope with an expected surge in population that he said is sure to put a strain on its transportation, housing and energy systems.

“Let’s face up to the fact that our population growth is putting our city on a collision course with the environment, which itself is growing more unstable and uncertain,” the mayor said...

...The mayor said congestion on the city’s streets is the source of many of the city’s health, environmental and economic problems.

“We can’t talk about reducing air pollution without talking about congestion,” he said.

“As our city continues to grow, the cost of congestion to our health, to our economy and to our environment are only going to get worse,” he said. “The question is not whether we want to pay, but how do we want to pay — with an increased asthma rate, with more greenhouse gases, with more wasted time, lost business and higher prices. Or do we charge a modest fee to encourage more people to take mass transit...”

...The fee would be deducted from the tolls commuters already pay to come into Manhattan via the bridges or tunnels.

There would be no toll booths, just a network of cameras that would capture license plate numbers and either charge a driver’s existing commuter account or generate a bill to be paid each time.

The mayor said that about half of the fees would be paid by New York City residents — and the other half by commuters from surrounding areas. But he pledged not to begin imposing the fee for at least a year, until city officials can upgrade mass transit service into parts of New York City that are currently not well served by the city’s subway or train system.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/nyregion/23mayorcnd.html?hp

I am generally suspicious of Repukes speaking about the environment, and I have been especially contemptuous of Governor Hydrogen Hummer's "Brazillion Solar Roofs" bill that will do next to <em>nothing</em> at all for the environment, although it has made California as safe as always for meaningless gestures.

However one should have the courage to say point out an instance where a Republican is right about something, and this is that case.

New York City releases more carbon dioxide than several prominent countries in the world, and a ban and/or restriction on cars should be welcome anywhere it is feasible.

The Mayor himself takes the subway to work.

New York City is part of a grid served by the Indian Point Nuclear Station as well as nuclear plants in New Jersey, my home state. This is an outstanding proposal to shift transportation from oil to nuclear energy and I fully endorse it.