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View Full Version : Mayor wants an $8 toll on cars driving into NYC



Chip R
05-04-2007, 12:34 PM
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070503/us_nm/newyorkcity_traffic_dc

pedro
05-04-2007, 12:38 PM
I think it's a good idea.

Yachtzee
05-04-2007, 12:43 PM
Why anyone would want to drive in NYC is beyond me. It's quite easy to get around town using public transportation there.

KronoRed
05-04-2007, 01:12 PM
Make em pay.

I like it.

TeamBoone
05-04-2007, 01:15 PM
I think it's a horrible idea!

When I lived in upstate NY, I often drove to NYC... mostly to attend baseball games. Using public transportation is not as easy as one might expect, especially when you have kids in tow to keep an eye on. Yankee Stadium isn't far from the bridge so it was much easier for me. An $8 toll is ridiculous.

Roy Tucker
05-04-2007, 01:33 PM
I believe London has something like that called a Congestion Charge.

registerthis
05-04-2007, 01:36 PM
Fine by me.

They should add one to D.C. while they're at it.

Yachtzee
05-04-2007, 01:59 PM
Fine by me.

They should add one to D.C. while they're at it.

That's another city I found to be much easier to deal with without a car. While it was nice driving around the monuments, finding parking was a bear. It was much less stressful parking at a Metro stop in VA and taking it into town.

Another possible solution could be as well could be free parking and fare discounts for those who park outside the city and use public transit to come into the city.

I lived in Chicago for a few years without a car and was able to do quite well without one. The money I saved on gas and parking more than made up for fares paid for riding the El and taking cabs.

registerthis
05-04-2007, 02:13 PM
That's another city I found to be much easier to deal with without a car. While it was nice driving around the monuments, finding parking was a bear. It was much less stressful parking at a Metro stop in VA and taking it into town.

You know, I commented to my wife the other day that i have no idea how people who aren't from DC navigate their way around it by car. By foot or subway it's a breeze, but the diagonal streets, traffic circles, and "disappearing" streets make driving around central D.C. a confusing mess. I get tripped up driving around all the time, and I have a reasonably good idea where I'm going and how best to get there.


Another possible solution could be as well could be free parking and fare discounts for those who park outside the city and use public transit to come into the city.

That's another issue altogether. I wish the local government and trasit authorities would focus on this--problem is DC's Metro is terribly underfunded, and the fare system is based on distance traveled. it's not a flat rate like most other major cities. I wholeheartedly agree that parking at Metro stations should be free...they currently charge $4/day to park there, and when you add that to a $4-$6 round trip train ride, you're talking about $10 for what is for most people an inconvenience. No wonder people choose to drive.

JaxRed
05-04-2007, 02:16 PM
I once drove in NYC..... the Mayor has it backwards. I'd pay $8 to leave....

Yachtzee
05-04-2007, 02:29 PM
You know, I commented to my wife the other day that i have no idea how people who aren't from DC navigate their way around it by car. By foot or subway it's a breeze, but the diagonal streets, traffic circles, and "disappearing" streets make driving around central D.C. a confusing mess. I get tripped up driving around all the time, and I have a reasonably good idea where I'm going and how best to get there.



That's another issue altogether. I wish the local government and trasit authorities would focus on this--problem is DC's Metro is terribly underfunded, and the fare system is based on distance traveled. it's not a flat rate like most other major cities. I wholeheartedly agree that parking at Metro stations should be free...they currently charge $4/day to park there, and when you add that to a $4-$6 round trip train ride, you're talking about $10 for what is for most people an inconvenience. No wonder people choose to drive.

I haven't been there in ages, so I don't know what kind of programs they have now, but when I was in Chicago I was able to get in on a pilot program with the CTA where they gave me a credit card-like pass which I could just wave in front of sensors to go through the turnstiles. I would also get a discount of $.25 of each trip loading it up online. There was also a program where your employer could arrange to have your fares deducted, I think it was pre-tax, directly from your paycheck. Again you got bonus credits on your fare card for enrolling. While I don't necessarily miss the crazy street preachers would would occasionally try to cast Satan out of my train car or the homeless guys who would smell bad enough to cause everyone to smash themselves into one half of the car, I really miss being able to read a paper or a novel on my way into work in the morning. Much more relaxing than driving, IMO.

The whole distance-based fares idea stinks if your goal is to get more people to actually use the public transporation.

Sweetstop
05-04-2007, 02:38 PM
I haven't been there in ages, so I don't know what kind of programs they have now, but when I was in Chicago I was able to get in on a pilot program with the CTA where they gave me a credit card-like pass which I could just wave in front of sensors to go through the turnstiles. I would also get a discount of $.25 of each trip loading it up online. There was also a program where your employer could arrange to have your fares deducted, I think it was pre-tax, directly from your paycheck. Again you got bonus credits on your fare card for enrolling. While I don't necessarily miss the crazy street preachers would would occasionally try to cast Satan out of my train car or the homeless guys who would smell bad enough to cause everyone to smash themselves into one half of the car, I really miss being able to read a paper or a novel on my way into work in the morning. Much more relaxing than driving, IMO.

The whole distance-based fares idea stinks if your goal is to get more people to actually use the public transporation.

my daughter lives in chicago and has a similar, employer deducted card now..not sure of all the details. she mentioned recently that CTA has been having some problems lately, though...long waits, etc.

15fan
05-04-2007, 02:52 PM
If the money goes towards building subway lines to / from LaGuardia, then it makes a lot of sense.

http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/sub1a.gif

Seems to me that an east-west line running from any of the 103rd - 125th street stations in Manhattan out to Laguardia would be a great way to get a lot of traffic off the roads.

NJReds
05-04-2007, 02:52 PM
I think it's a horrible idea!

When I lived in upstate NY, I often drove to NYC... mostly to attend baseball games. Using public transportation is not as easy as one might expect, especially when you have kids in tow to keep an eye on. Yankee Stadium isn't far from the bridge so it was much easier for me. An $8 toll is ridiculous.

You wouldn't be affected going to the stadium. It's for downtown to I think somewhere in the 80s. Yankee Stadium isn't even in Manhattan...it's in the Bronx.

Edit: If global warming and pollution is really a concern, then people are going to have to start making some sacrifices. It starts w/taking public transportation. NY has high instances of asthma due to the air quality. As the Mayor said...we can either pay from our pockets, or we'll pay in other ways. I have no issue with this.

Highlifeman21
05-04-2007, 04:15 PM
I think it's a horrible idea!

When I lived in upstate NY, I often drove to NYC... mostly to attend baseball games. Using public transportation is not as easy as one might expect, especially when you have kids in tow to keep an eye on. Yankee Stadium isn't far from the bridge so it was much easier for me. An $8 toll is ridiculous.

You pay to cross the GW Bridge going East on 95 now. The House That Jeter Ruined is the 1st Exit on 87 S from 95 E. You have to pay the toll to exit New Jersey now as is, so I don't get how this will be much different, except NYC will get a piece of the action.

Sweetstop
05-04-2007, 05:47 PM
I believe London has something like that called a Congestion Charge.


Read a little piece in this week's The New Yorker. It mentioned the London charge, which Londoners evidently really like...also a successful plan in Stockholm.

Since the NY legislature would have to pass a bill on this, it's chances seem remote at best. It sounds great though...one of Bloomberg's plans would put the congestion pricing money (est. $400mill/annually) towards improving the subway and bus service.

"But, as the mayor pointed out, New York, a flood prone coastal city, is vulnerable to one of global warming's most destructive...and almost certain..consequences: rising sea levels. If New Yorkers won't change their behavior, then it's hard to see why anyone in the rest of the country, or for that matter, the world should, either. The congestion problem will, in that case, find a different resolution. Who, after all, wants to drive into a city that's under water?"

TeamBoone
05-04-2007, 06:44 PM
I was going by the title of the thread (NYC)... didn't read the article. So I figured it included all burroughs.