Congestion Pricing Is Not The Answer

The specter of congestion pricing continues to hover over New York City. Although the state legislature adjourned before any kind of a vote could be taken on putting Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plan to levy an $8 fee, including any bridge or tunnel tolls, on motor vehicles entering Manhattan below 86th Street from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, the concept is still very much alive. In fact, the legislature is due to vote on the plan in a special session this month.

Aside from the blatant unfairness of charging drivers from other boroughs to enter or cross Manhattan, congestion pricing would impose another burden on New Yorkers who use mass transit: that of being crammed into subway cars already filled to capacity during rush hour. The A, C and F lines and the "number lines"- the 1,2,3,4,5,6 and Queens' own International Express, the 7 line, are among the city's busiest. Especially during rush hour, many of these trains have cars so packed with commuters that there is literally not one more square inch of room for more riders to squeeze in. Even during off-peak hours, some lines are still standing-room-only.

Last Monday, New York City Transit officials were quoted on a local radio station saying that most of these subway lines are at capacity now, with no more room on the tracks to add more trains. New York City Transit President Howard H. Roberts Jr. told Metropolitan Transportation Authority board members that congestion pricing could mean that the MTA would have to rely on more buses. "If all those cars don't come in, there will be more room for the buses," he said. This is scant comfort to those of us who have stood at bus stops for what seem like hours, especially in inclement weather, only to have buses pass by because they, too, are filled to capacity and beyond.

Drivers from the boroughs other than Manhattan having to pay to enter a part of the city where there was once free access to all is very disturbing to us. We find ourselves in agreement with City Councilmember David Weprin, who has suggested alternative ways to combat congestion, such as prohibiting some truck deliveries during peak hours. Weprin called congestion pricing "just the wrong thing to do", especially at a time when the city's coffers hold multi-billion dollar surpluses. We agree. The working and middle-class citizens of the city of New York who travel into Manhattan mostly of necessity should not be burdened with what amounts to yet another form of taxation, especially one that will aggravate the already miserable conditions plaguing the city's mass transit system.