Cameron on Transportation
Where NY Gov’s Abrupt Turnaround on Congestion Pricing Really Has an Impact: Financing Upgrades
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What was she thinking? Just 25 days before implementation, why did New York Gov. Kathy Hochul pull the plug on New York City’s congestion pricing scheme in a move one pundit called “the perfect clash of governmental incompetence meets political malpractice.”
Five years in the planning and studied over and over again, congestion pricing would have charged drivers of the 700,000 vehicles that enter Manhattan each day below 60th Street for the privilege: $15 for a car, $24 to $36 for a truck. In addition to easing gridlock, the plan would also raise $1 billion a year for the cash-strapped MTA to repair and improve mass transit. That’s a win-win. Just weeks ago Hochul was in Europe touting congestion pricing as the “better way” to save New York City.