Cuomo ‘very curious’ about congestion pricing for N.Y. City

[Around the Horn]

Most of this article is stuck behind a pay wall, but it still does't discount the fact that it is news.

 

A remark by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, well into a ceremony for the new Penn-Farley west concourse at New York’s Penn Station, could reinvigorate discussion about congestion pricing, a concept backers say could generate billions for mass transit among other benefits.

 

As a summer of hell looms for Long Island and New Jersey commuters because of emergency Penn Station track repairs by Amtrak, Cuomo on Monday mentioned a planned 50% reduction of overnight bridge tolls for trucks on the Long Island Expressway.

 

https://www.bondbuyer.com/news/cuomo-very-curious-about-congestion-pricing-for-ny-city

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Most of this article is stuck behind a pay wall, but it still does't discount the fact that it is news.

 

 

https://www.bondbuyer.com/news/cuomo-very-curious-about-congestion-pricing-for-ny-city

Please post the entire article for the people who don't have accounts to the Bond Buyer.

[Around the Horn]

Please post the entire article for the people who don't have accounts to the Bond Buyer.

 

I don't either. I only saw the article existed because someone else posted the link to it on twitter. Unfortunately, it seems no one else other than the Bond Buyer is reporting on it.

[SevenEleven]

A remark by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, well into a ceremony for the new Penn-Farley west concourse at New York’s Penn Station, could reinvigorate discussion about congestion pricing, a concept backers say could generate billions for mass transit among other benefits.

 

As a summer of hell looms for Long Island and New Jersey commuters because of emergency Penn Station track repairs by Amtrak, Cuomo on Monday mentioned a planned 50% reduction of overnight bridge tolls for trucks on the Long Island Expressway.

 

“It’s a form of congestion pricing,” Cuomo said of the move, one of several mitigation measures. “I’m very curious to see how that works.”

 

 

Gov. Andrew Cuomo tours new Penn-Farley west concourse at New York's Penn Station.

Cuomo in the past had been noncommittal, even standoffish, about the idea.

 

Supporters of congestion pricing – used notably in London -- say it will fund transportation infrastructure, ease congestion in Manhattan and make tolls more equitable throughout New York City’s five boroughs.

 

Its champion is “Gridlock Sam” Schwartz, a transportation engineer and New York City’s traffic commissioner in the early 1980s.

 

The plan would impose tolls on now-free East River bridges and traffic moving south across 60th Street in Manhattan, just north of the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, the northernmost of the now-free bridges that would be tolled.

 

Schwartz has said his Move NY Fair plan, which has yet to gain traction in Albany, could raise nearly $1.4 billion in annual new revenue that when bonded, could generate more than $12 billion.

 

Some discussion in transportation circles even included whether New York City itself could toll the East River bridges without state approval.

 

“I am not sure if they can actually do that but I think it would be better if the state, through the MTA, coordinated that,” said Howard Cure, director of municipal bond research for Evercore Wealth Management.

 

“The congestion pricing is a hard sell politically, particularly for state and city legislators from certain areas of Queens and Brooklyn but as mass transit becomes desperate for new funding, it may be the only alternative,” said Cure. “It would also improve quality of life issues in Manhattan.”

 

New York’s transit crisis -- with its extensive breakdowns and delays -- has prompted creative discussions about how best to combat aging infrastructure, turf wars among regional agencies, chronic underfunding and uncertainty about federal aid.

 

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates LIRR, last week announced a far-reaching mitigation plan for Long Island commuters.

 

The initiative, the cost of which the MTA is still assessing, will include ferry service and shuttle buses to and from Long Island and connections to New York City subway stations. That’s in addition to the truck-toll discount, intended to encourage nighttime truck use and minimize congestion on the Long Island Expressway.

 

Emergency repairs such as Amtrak’s track work affecting Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit, and the MTA’s pending shutdown of the Canarsie tunnel, which carries the L subway line between Manhattan and Brooklyn, have prompted calls for alternative transportation such as ferries and bicycles.

 

New York City has begun expanding ferry service throughout some of the outer boroughs and some New Jersey advocates are pushing ferries as a counter to the Penn Station mess.

 

According to Cure, ferry demand will be strong if rides remain subsidized at the same fare as subways.

 

“I don’t know how much the city is willing to expend on this service and it isn’t always coordinated with other transit options,” he said.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Ferry service has been a huge success, in part because of how horrid the subways have become.  The city should continue to expand the service and provide increased frequencies.  

[N6 Limited]

I support congestion pricing in the sense that they charge drivers for driving too slow and inhibiting passing on the highway .

[Around the Horn]

Thank you for posting the whole article, Seven!

 

 

Ferry service has been a huge success, in part because of how horrid the subways have become.  The city should continue to expand the service and provide increased frequencies.  

Without a doubt. I've been pleasantly surprised by the demand.

 

I support congestion pricing in the sense that they charge drivers for driving too slow and inhibiting passing on the highway .

 

The other thing I like about the plan is that there is financial incentive to use less crowded peripheral crossings (such as the Triboro, Bronx-Whitestone and Throngs Neck) rather than pass through Midtown, if your are going from say Queens to the Bronx.

[Union Tpke]

If this is true, this will be the best thing that Cuomo has ever done for transportation. This should really be done, and if Cuomo supports it, it will probably get done. I have been waiting for this for some time. If this is true, thank you Prince Andrew.

I am not being sarcastic for this one time!

[QM1to6Ave]

This is a much more appropriate form of congestion pricing--rather than punish people for taking the bridges, reward/incentivize people for driving at lighter times of day. THe DOT is also trying to re-start a pilot program where business got some sort of tax break or incentive for getting deliveries overnight, which would work well with this overnight toll reduction 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

The other thing I like about the plan is that there is financial incentive to use less crowded peripheral crossings (such as the Triboro, Bronx-Whitestone and Throngs Neck) rather than pass through Midtown, if your are going from say Queens to the Bronx.

lol @ "Throngs Neck"

[MHV9218]

This is a pretty dumb way to refer to congestion pricing. What we have here is a decrease in revenue, not an increase. With true congestion pricing you incentivize transit while also raising money for transit investment and improvement. That's what we actually need. This is simply the incentivizing of driving at a different time, with no help for transit at all. Not sure why Cuomo called it something it's not. 

[Around the Horn]

lol @ "Throngs Neck"

 

lol thats autocorrect for you... 

[BreeddekalbL]

i do think he would be stupid in trying to put this in (cuomo) if the people who drive into the city vote he can possibly kiss reelection goodbye

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Governor Cuomo: 'The Time Has Come' For Congestion Pricing

BY EMMA WHITFORD IN NEWS ON AUG 14, 2017 10:33 AM

 

(Governor's Flickr)

 

Governor Andrew Cuomo spoke publicly for the first time this weekend about his willingness to pursue tolls on New York City drivers that would reduce car traffic in lower Manhattan and generate a new funding stream for the ailing MTA.

 

"Congestion pricing is an idea whose time has come," the governor told the NY Times.

The funding proposal, which has historically sputtered in Albany, has recently gained traction there and in the City Council.

 

Cuomo has yet to detail what his version of congestion pricing will look like, telling the NY Times that his has been meeting with "interested parties" for months and envisions a plan substantially different from one pitched by former mayor Michael Bloomberg in the late aughts. The Governor's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

As the subway continues to crumble, beleaguered transit riders have directed their anger at Governor Cuomo, who controls the MTA. The Governor, meanwhile, has variously denied and embraced his leadership role. Last week, the MTA stressed its need for short-term emergency funding, as well as a new, longterm revenue stream to chip away at the authority's multi-billion-dollar debt.

 

Bloomberg was the first to champion congestion pricing, envisioning a pollution- and traffic-reducing measure. But outer borough City Council members took issue with the proposal, which died in Albany in 2008. Move NY formed in 2010 and later welcomed transit expert Sam "Gridlock" Schwartz, who suggested some of the toll revenue go towards bridges and roads, to appease drivers. Move NY pushed new congestion pricing introduced in Albany last spring, which was met with opposition from a coalition of Queens politicians who argued their constituents would shoulder an unfair financial burden.

 

Currently, there are tolls on the Verrazano, Kennedy, Throgs Neck and Whitestone Bridges. These would decline under the Move NY plan, which would also impose a $5.76 toll on the four East River bridges, and any vehicle entering or exiting Manhattan south of 60th Street. Taxis and other for-hire vehicles like Lyft and Uber would also pay a surcharge pegged to the amount of time spent in Manhattan's hyper-congested central business district.

 

The Governor's Office has reached out to organizers with the Move NY Plan, according to the group, though they have yet to meet.

 

"The Governor, to his everlasting credit, seems committed to using this crisis to mobilize the resources we need to invest in our infrastructure and thus in our future," Alex Matthiessen, campaign director of Move NY.

The Move NY plan projects $1.47 billion in annual revenue, $1.1 billion of which would be directed to public transit.

 

By contrast, Mayor de Blasio's new "fair fix" millionaire tax, which is contingent on state approval, would bring in approximately $820 million annually by the year 2022 through a 0.5 percent increase in income tax on individuals who make over $500,000 and married couples who make more than $1 million.

 

Neither congestion pricing, nor a millionaire tax, would fund the MTA's short-term ask of roughly $800 million to improve subway service in the short-term, targeting issues like outdated signaling, tracks and cars.

De Blasio has consistently dismissed congestion pricing as unviable. Last week, he admitted that he hasn't studied the idea for years. "I have no idea how bipartisan or not it is," the mayor said last week. "I was briefed on it in 2013 and I have not looked at it since."

 

On Monday, City Hall spokesman Austin Finan said the mayor would review any viable proposal to fund the MTA in the long term. He also snuck in some familiar talking points, refusing the MTA's request for roughly $400 million in emergency funding, referencing funds diverted from the MTA to the state's general fund since the early aughts, and making a plug for the millionaire tax.

 

"We'll review any serious and viable plan the Governor puts forward," Finan said. "In the meantime, the Governor should immediately return the half-billion dollars the state diverted from the MTA and support New Yorkers' effort to have the wealthiest 1 percent chip in a few dollars to help subway and bus riders."

 

A spokesman for NY Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan did not immediately respond to a request for comment on congestion pricing Monday. Flanagan has already come out against de Blasio's proposal, stating that "raising taxes is not the answer."

 

The Riders Alliance has recently targeted Cuomo as the man best positioned to address NYC's transit crisis, and criticized him for letting the situation worsen on his watch.

 

"If Governor Cuomo is embracing a plan that will produce substantial revenue and reduce traffic congestion, he will have the support of millions of subway and bus riders who are desperate for long-term solution," director John Raskin stated.

 

"Riding public transit has become such a miserable experience that New Yorkers are ready to embrace bold solutions," he added. "As long as we have faith they will really lead to safer, more reliable commutes."

 

Source: http://gothamist.com/2017/08/14/cuomo_congestion_pricing.php

[Around the Horn]

And boom goes the dynamite!

[Via Garibaldi 8]

And boom goes the dynamite!

I wrote his office recently about congestion and the need for HOV lanes on various expressways.  I was not pleased with the response that the DOT gave me, which was that a study was conducted and it was concluded that HOV lanes aren't needed, but congestion pricing is a start in the right direction.

[BreeddekalbL]

He wants to lose reelection i guess...  If he dares go that route he can kiss his run for president good bye

[bobtehpanda]

He wants to lose reelection i guess...  If he dares go that route he can kiss his run for president good bye

 

He could already kiss it goodbye. The City is basically the only reason he won reelection last time, and even we're tired of him now.

[DaTransitMan4608]

He wants to lose reelection i guess... If he dares go that route he can kiss his run for president good bye

I've said this before and I'm gonna continue to say it. For all of Cuomo's faults, you better be lucky you have a governor that's at least trying. We're still stuck with Christie on this side of the pond and starting to clean up the mess left as a result of him neglecting transportation here. You guys are getting swaths of new buses with Wi-Fi and charging ports, expanding your quasi-BRT, building new bridges, and many other things. Over here though, we're only getting a mass order of motor coaches which won't have those features and then I think we'll be getting Multilevel EMUs in the near future. This is due to a lack of investment in mass transit here.

 

 

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