newrepublic.com
I think conservatives would call it government regulation that restricts economic activity.New York’s Congestion Pricing Is Working. Now Comes the Real Test.
Commute times are down, and subway numbers are up. But the conservative attacks have not stopped.
"conservatives" hate it, but isn't it a market based means to allocate a scarce good?
But conservatives love toll lanes run by private contractors deploying variable pricing based on volume. Those private toll lanes (brought to us by “conservative” legislators) sure as hell make “the driving experience better for some at the cost of making the driving experience much, much worse for others.”
spot on, but you won't be able to convince him of it
I bet you can convince Pat McCrory of it! Losing northern Mecklenburg cost him his reelection bid.
Do they make the driving experience much, much worse for others?? After all the private companies are adding lanes and presumably removing congestion from the government provided lanes. They also push the cost burden on to the users instead of taxing users and non-users for the service.
Probably true for the vast majority of conservatives.
Conservatives invented the idea. When I was in NY, every conservative I knew was all about using tolls and economic incentives to clear traffic. It was a conservative party line item and I'm pretty sure it was part of the NY Libertarian Party's platform. A guy who worked for me as a coder was pretty high up in the Libertarian Party, and congestion pricing was basically all he ever talked about.
Yes. The contract for the road I am most familiar with forbids the state from adding non-toll lanes on that highway for 50 years. The state could add lanes to alternate roads but if any of those alternate roads become limited access highways, the private contractor receives compensation for lost tolls (millions of $, but more likely a nasty legal fight to determine compensation. For 50 years.
Yeah. That sounds like some local yokels either getting hoodwinked, or worse, in some kind of corrupt bargain. I don't think that would be the norm on The contracts for the relative benefits of toll roads but don't really know. I would just say that in an ideal scenario, toll roads would provide a better driving experience for all drivers then no toll roads and no expansion.
You are so right. I love the private toll lanes in ATL. As you noted, the price is based upon volume at different times during the day, allowing the consumer to decide whether it is worth it for him/her to pay the toll on a particular day. I disagree that, in all cases, it makes the driving experience worse for others. First, you can elect to pay the toll. Second, the toll lanes on I-75 south of Atlanta are between the north south lanes - no lanes were removed from normal use. On I -75 North the toll lane is largely built above the current lanes (the "highway in the sky") until you get further north then it runs between the north south lanes. Only I-85 North of Atlanta did they remove an existing lane of highway and make it a toll - and that was the first toll road.
I recall when they added the Peach Pass lane on 85. I hope they don't build one on 400, unless it's like the one on 75, not 85. 85 basically repurposed an existing lane, so it made traffic worse. 400 is great now, one can do 80 until they reach exit 10, then it stops.
Same (20+ years in Manhattan, no car) and I love congestion pricing.
Those scurvy fuckers better not touch it. The working and middle classes of NJ should be taking the gd train.Trump Administration Considers Halting Congestion Pricing
The New York City tolling program began on Jan. 5 after defying obstacles for decades. A move to stop it would likely touch off a legal battle between the state and federal government.
Trump Administration Considers Halting Congestion Pricing
The New York City tolling program began on Jan. 5 after defying obstacles for decades. A move to stop it would likely touch off a legal battle between the state and federal government.www.nytimes.com
“…
The Department of Transportation is discussing whether to withdraw a key federal authorization that the tolling plan received from the Biden administration last year. Such a move would almost certainly touch off a legal battle between the state and federal governments, and could effectively kill congestion pricing in its infancy.
No final decision has been made but President Trump had vowed to halt congestion pricing once he entered office, saying it was harmful to the city’s economy. The program’s opponents have urged Mr. Trump to re-examine it, with Gov. Philip D. Murphy of New Jersey calling it “a disaster for working- and middle-class New Jersey commuters and residents” in a letter to Mr. Trump last week.
The tolling program started on Jan. 5 after surviving a number of lawsuits seeking to block it and a last-minute suspension by Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York in June. …”
I don't think there's any authority to allow them to do anything. I don't know anything about the specific authorization here or the statute under which it was given, but generally speaking agencies cannot alter their own approvals without substantial evidence and they aren't going to have that.
