The Trump administration’s effort to stop the congestion pricing of New York City in Manhattan has started a fight with the state officials who did not waste any time to file a case to continue the program.
“This is an attack on our sovereign identity, our freedom from Washington,” Gove Kathy Hachul said at a Wednesday news conference.
Earlier in the day, he received a letter from the Transport Secretary Scene Dafi in which he was told that his
Hosul said that they would continue operations, and they were Thursday.
What do you know about NYC traffic plan here:
What is congestion pricing?
This is a strategy to reduce traffic levels by decomposing driving through the additional cost of toll. Transit officials said that before being implemented in New York in New York on 5 January, the speed of traffic in the Central Trade District of Manhattan was about 7 miles per hour, 23% slow, slower than 15 years ago.
“In some level of crowd, the demand is more than the supply,” said Emeritus Joseph Shoffer, a professor at Civil and Environmental Engineering at Northwestern University, who specializes in transport issues. “They want to do something about it (problems), which results in congestion: all drivers, air pollution, travel time for extra motor vehicle accidents delay.”
How does NYC program work?
Most passenger vehicles coming in the so-called congestion relief zone in Midtown and Lower Manhattan-60Wan Street on Down – $ 9 is charged for the day if they enter during the peak period, from 5 am to 9 am in the week and 9 am to 9 pm on the weekend. At other times the charge goes down by $ 2.25. The cost of peak time for trucks and buses ranges from $ 14.40 to $ 21.60.
Electronic cameras read the license plate numbers, which are usually associated with the e-zadpas toll-payment system. People without e-zadpas receive bills by mail at high rates.
The scheme is expected to generate $ 500 million in revenue this first year, in which funds are going to public transit projects.
Has the plan worked?
New York officials believe that, pointing to reduce traffic speeds, the traffic speed has increased especially for express buses. Transit officials say that the time of inbound trip on all Hudson River and East River crossings has gained 10–30% faster.
Jeno Liber, CEO of Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York, said that in January, the Central Trade District of Manhattan declined by 1.2 million less vehicles. In addition, Liber said, pedestrian traffic and restaurant reservation in the area are above.
He said, “Roads are safe, there are many accidents, and means that pedestrians are not getting injured and are killed,” he said.
Why does Trump administration oppose the program?
Dafi called the pricing plan “a slap for the working class Americans and small business owners,” said that passengers have already paid for the cost of highways in the city and now more money to fund transit The system is required.
Hochul accused President Donald Trump of trying to kill the program for political reasons after being approved by the Biden administration.
Schofer said that there is always some resistance to such new strategies, and obviously drivers would think about additional cost, but they said that residents and visitors are given the option to use a better transit system. .
“The new administration has come and said it is not appropriate,” said Shoffor. “Of course this is appropriate. It is completely logical. You can’t like it, but it is appropriate because I am charging you for that social cost when you choose to drive. ,
Has congestion pricing been implemented elsewhere?
New York is the first American city to execute the project in a main district, although many others like San Diego, Miami, Denver, Miniapolis and Houston have highway toll lanes that skirts to skirt more crowded areas for fees to drivers Let’s allow.
Internationally, Singapore was the first jurisdiction to establish congestion pricing in 1975. Others, including Central London – other British cities – in addition to Stockholm and Milan. London’s toll is close to $ 20.
“New York is the most transit-intensive city in North America,” said Shoffer. “Assuring you have resources (for transit improvement) and people hit the streets a very good reason to collect such money.”
Contribution: Reuters
