Now the Real Work Begins on a Manhattan Congestion Plan

Congestion pricing benefits the richest people, period. The current push likes to use the low number of "working poor" as an argument that few will be hurt, this is hogwash. By slicing the smallest example group it seems as if few will be hurt, but the reality is the working not so poor will be hurt a lot. These people come to work before public transportation is useful and will be charged for going home (or the opposite) the system maybe open 24/7 but is completely unreliable at night. But the moneyed class that all the supporters of this money grab belong to can scoff at the expense. The NYT editorial board, politicians, Sam Scwhartz and MTA bureaucrats all belong to this class. This is one of the few things Deblasio is correct on. The MTA likely wastes a billion a year through poor management, don't make the people they don't service pay for their incompetence Go to London, and the vast majority of cars you see in the congestion zone are very new and expensive or for hire. This helps rich people and hurts all others.

People who live in this area will discover that it is impossible to move anything into or out of their apartments. I believe it is not considered good manners to carry a sofa on the buses or subways.

I live in the heart of midtown west & I'm not a car owner, but my first thoughts are what about residents with cars who live in these new "zoned off" areas, or if I rent a car from one of the 2-3 car rental dealers in my neighborhood to take a trip & then return the car to the dealer. What happens to the residents who own cars or resident like me who wants to rent & then return a car to a dealer located in the zoned area? People who live in the zoned areas should have permits & not be charged. Most people who live in these areas don't drive their cars unless traveling some distance within or outside the city. NYT please address & ask these questions.

As a resident of the Flatiron, I see our neighborhood swarming with Uber, Lyft, Juno, Via, other Black cars and Yellow cabs. There are times when 90% of the vehicles are these. So there’s about 125,000 vehicles cruising for fares on streets that are blocked by Construction sites that block one or 2 lanes. No wonder there is gridlock but how would the politicians know. All their go sees are curated. We have a car that we use on the weekend but in the city we travel by foot, bus or subway. Now when we use our car to visit family and friends out of the city we are going to by a fee! The subways are an absolute catastrophe. Unreliable and filthy. Billions spent on Hudson Yards and World Trade Center stations and ignoring the major issues with the entire system. Our Governor and Mayor will never get anything done anytime. And Andy Byford has no idea how huge the problems are.

These politicians are criminals with a license to steal from the middle class. With any congestion price plan it will ultimately be passed on to everyone. Ex. Trucks making deliveries will pass on the cost to local merchants. These merchants will then pass it onto there customers. Why not charge the building owners who have benefited from nyc mass transit system a surcharge or a tax. Pass a law that any profit the MTA makes cannot to be taken to balance NYS overblown budget.

The 'MoveNY' plan has many good ideas in it. Tolling the East River bridges and lowering the tolls on the outer borough Verrazano, Whitestone and Throggs Neck bridges. Better to toll the East River bridges than to put up ugly cashless tolling gantries along 60th Street, etc. http://iheartmoveny.org/

The number of Uber vehicles is completely out of control. Notice more than every other car on the street has a “T” on the license plate. Utterly absurd to ignore this fact. Just add congestion pricing to everyone to subsidize these unregulated for hire vehicles- seems unfair to me.

Chocking on traffic and fumes. Incessant honking at all hours of the day and night in some of the most densely populated residential areas in the world The high economic cost of gridlock and underinvestment in public transit.

Time to do something about it and reclaim our quality of life.

Inventory parking spots, rent to carshare, local residents, & general public, tiered pricing. Revenue to local community boards. Storage of private property in public space has a social cost, price it accordingly.

Will they enact this plan before the L Train reopens?
I'm all for reducing congestion, in theory, congestion pricing included. But if there is no public transit alternative, it seems punitive to charge folks who live in the boroughs and work in Manhattan who have few, if any, options for getting to work. Motorists already pay dearly into the city coffers, via tolls and parking fees. How much more can the middle-class in this town bear?
Please think this one through carefully, and with an eye to the working residents of NYC, for a change.

"The Fix NYC plan proposes creating a congestion zone around Manhattan’s busiest neighborhoods, from 60th Street south to the Battery and from the Hudson River to the East River."
But how would the tolls to drive below 60th Street be collected? Via an easypass system along 60th Street for those who have one? Would toll booths be installed for those who don't have a pass?
Can't quite imagine the additional traffic congestion that would create. There must be a smarter way to raise money for the MTA. How are they doing in European cities?

I thought the money was needed to replace the outdated signal system on the subways and other basic maintenance that's been ignored for far too long.

Neat. Sweep the obscene MTA construction corruption, as detailed in The Times, under the rug.

It’s unfortunate NYC never looked into free mass transportation between points in the inner most congested areas. I’ve visited other cities, which decreased congestion using free mass transit as part of their solution. Free mass transit and a light rail system. I wonder how other metropolises do it. I’m sure it’s not magic.

Just add tolls to the bridges- therefore you are charged for entering Manhattan- And legalize recreational Marijuana- the taxes collected could be used for lots of things, including the MTA

We need to refocus the discussion on congestion pricing to the tremendous impact all those vehicles have on the NYC ENVIRONMENT and quality of life. Often the out of town vehicles seem hell bent to get back from where they came from making our neighborhoods unsafe for pedestrians. The ridiculous use of their horns also creates a very unwelcome element to their presence. Finally why are we not talking about the elephant in our city; All the toxins that are so generously left behind in the air we all breathe.

I'm in New York City for a few days and have been here several times in the last year. What I noticed was that the actual amount of cars on the roads doesn't seem that high when I compare it to the busier parts of Chicago. What I did notice was that the pedestrians in New York pay very little attention to the traffic signals and really screw up the flow of traffic (and I am not using a car while I am here). Officials might want to consider a campaign focused on basic courtesy or, if need be, jaywalking fines. The situation seems quite ridiculous from an outsider's perspective.

Congestion in Manhattan can be relieved with the stroke of the pen if all of the free parking for personal cars is removed for police, fire, civil servants, judges, DAs, teachers, doctors, etc. With that would come relief also from phony parking placards created on copying machines. New metered space would become available and driving around and around for parking would be lessened. If all of those privileged parkers want to drive into Manhattan, let them pay for parking like everyone else. Please note that not one member of Gov. Cuomo's MoveNYC panel is an elected official who must answer to the public. Drivers already subsidize the subway with $billions in bridge tolls. I've never come across a sound justification for this. Subsidies, if justified, should come from general revenues IMO. Finally, the movement is on to bribe the outer borough politicians by reducing the tolls on some of the bridges. Cynicism at its best. No doubt, over time, the too-high tolls will return.

Since 2014 the number of app-based vehicles (Uber, Lyft, etc.) allowed to do business on the streets of NYC has gone from zero to over 60,000. Compare that to the number of yellow taxis, which since 1937 has risen from 11,787 to its present number of just a bit over 13,000. And yet, looking at any street in Manhattan, because of their distinctive yellow color it seems that yellow cabs are everywhere. Can there really be five times as many Ubers? If you don't believe it, here's how you can see it for yourself: just stand on any congested street in Midtown and note how many of the vehicles you see there have license plates that start with the letter T and end with the letter C. Those are the Ubers. You will no longer doubt what is causing the congestion in Midtown. I propose two solutions: a) put a cap on the number of app-based vehicles permitted to be in business in the city. CAP THE APPS! That would actually be beneficial to their own drivers as they are no longer doing well financially -- their excessive numbers have saturated their own market. b) Or, if not that, add a surcharge to each app-based ride that would approximate the income expected to be generated by "congestion pricing". That would properly put the burden on those who are causing the problem -- the Ubers themselves and the passengers who are using them.

Under the congestion pricing plan, the well off will be totally unaffected. The less well off will be driven off the streets, making life better for the well off by giving them less crowded streets. A plan to benefit the economic elite. As for me, I have not driven south of 60th Street for at least the last 20 years.

Traffic congestion is the result of unfettered development. The only way to really impact traffic is to reduce development - and we know that won't happpen. Reducing Uber and instant gratification ecommmerce delivery (Amazon, Fresh Direct etc) would also reduce traffic.

All NYC residents should be exempt. Congestion Pricing should be used as a type of commuter tax.

Please reduce the LIRR fare. I believe it's now in the vicinity of 20$ round trip for me (when I splurge on a trip into Manhattan); it's not unusual to get round trip to Chicago for under $100.

Should it cost 1/5 my airline fare just to go into the city?

Reduced fares (for low income riders) on the subway/buses also a great idea.

I'm not opposed to congestion pricing and dedicating the money to improving New York City mass transit. However, many of the trucks that drive the streets of Manhattan south of 60 Street are repair workers - electricians, plumbers and others - who have no choice but to drive their trucks to our apartments do do work. Who will pay the $25 congestion fee? Those of us who live in Manhattan will. It is in essence a $25/day tax on us as these workers must have their trucks for equipment and all the workers/companies can do is pass the new cost on to us.

The problem is lack of transit. I suggest.
1. Have a plan to make the NYC’s inner city mass transit system the best in the world.
2. Utilize smart technology to remove car needs for Manhattan residents (high speed trains out of the city w car rental agencies at train stations.)
3. Use EZ PASS to punish crossing through Manhattan ($100 to cross both rivers.)
4. Eliminate free bridges.
5. Have dedicated bike roads with preferential traffic patterns for cyclists.
6. Have pedestrian roads with no car traffic.
7. Reclaim space by eliminating on street parking.
8. Create a plan to link suburbs with excellent train service to the city.

My suggestion is have all the tax and spend Dems move to London, Stockholm or Singapore. Problem fixed, less congestion and less taxes.

No new revenue of any type should be considered until there is
a reform of work rules and retirement benefits which drive up
the costs of public transportation in our region to unusustsinable
levels.
The Times highlighted this issue in its piece on subway construction
costs in New York, but makes no mention of it in relation to the
congestion pricing debate.

It is just shocking that the public is asked to continually raise
it’s contribution to mass transit, while the union driven cost
drivers of archaic work rules and unaffordable retirement
benefits are conveniently ignored.

The plan had better not penalize Manhattan residents who keep cars here and drive them. It's the non-residents in Manhattan that, to my eye, cause the most congestion.