(C)opyright 2007 Interpage Network Services Inc. +1 (510) 315-2750 After years of trying to place tolls on the remaining free bridges into and out of Manhattan by previous Mayoral administrations up to and including the current one, Mayor Bloomberg has come up with a (in his mind?)clever way to circumvent legislative objections to such tolls: Congestion Pricing. From my understanding, tolls paid to enter or leave the City on a given day will be DEDUCTED from the $8 charge for automobiles. Thus, someone entering via ANY of the TBTA (MTA) facilities, namely, the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, the Queens-Midtown tunnel, or the Triboro Bridge, which charge $4 EACH WAY, and leaving via any of those facilities, will pay NOTHING in terms of a "congestion pricing" charge ($4 to enter + $4 to leave = $8, which is to be deducted from the $8 congestion charge, to leave a total charge of $0!). (Traffic entering/leaving via the High Bridge (which I believe costs $2 each way) will thus pay a $4 charge if they travel below 86th St.) And I am not sure if the plan calls for this or not, but cars leaving via the Verrazano Bridge to Staten Island and Beyond (the toll for which is at least $8 now) will also pay nothing. Finally, people using the free bridges, namely, the Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg, Qeensboro, Third Ave/Willis Ave, and upper Bronx-Manhattan bridges will be forced, for the first time, to pay EFFECTIVELY what people who pay for the tolled bridges will pay, e.g., $8. Although not -directly- a toll on the the free facilities, the net effect is to "even out" the disparity between the TBTA facilities (which if used both ways, (with the exception of the High Bridge) amazingly cost the same $8 as the congestion pricing fee...) and the free facilities. Perhaps this was done to nullify TBTA/MTA opposition to the plan, but in effect this plan will require ALL ACCESS to/from Kings, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk Counties to be tolled during the plan's hours. Thus, it seems likely, that as all this does is effectively toll commuters who use the free bridges, and as it costs commuters who use Queens/Brooklyn TBTA facilities NOTHING extra, that it will modify existing driving patterns somewhat so that some motorists will take a more direct TBTA Bridge or Tunnel to work (most of which are already well above design capacity) rather than the free bridges. Other than make it more expensive for people who use the free bridges out of economic necessity to enter and leave the city (as those who can afford the TBTA facilities do so at a cost of $8 per day mitigating any extra cost of congestion pricing), the plan seems that it will have little effect other than to finally obtain tolling facilities on structures which have been free for over 100 years in some cases as yet another tax on those who can least afford it. If the Mayor and the City were truly in favor of mitigating congestion through the central business district, here are some ideas which are so obvious one wonders why they have not been tried IF this were truly an effort to reduce congestion: 1. Remove tolls from TBTA and facilities which do not lead into and out of Manhattan: The Whitestone, Throgs Neck, Verrazano, and Broad Channel Bridges should be made toll-free. This is one city -- why charge people who want to go from Brooklyn to Staten Island, or segregate those who want to travel from Queens to the Bronx and beyond. I for one regularly go through Manhattan to avoid the tolls and the delays on TBTA facilities as it is often cheaper(gas vs. tolls) and faster (due to delays on major Holidays when many non-EZ pass users jam up the limited cash lanes backing up bridges for miles. If there were no tolls on these facilities, many of my and I suspect other trips through Manhattan would be avoided. 2. Make the current (tolled) Manhattan and PA/NY&NJ facilities free at night or during off-peak periods, giving drivers and incentive to come in later or at staggered hours and encouraging time-shifted work patterns rather than penalizing those who can not change their schedules. This may also be an economic boon to the City as, similar to the Unlimited Ride MetroCard, it will promote more inter-boro traveling, shopping, and commerce during off-peak hours. (This of f course will never be done since it means the PA and the TBTA will lose revenue, which goes to show that this is really all about money and has very little relevance to actual congestion relief.) 3. Improve bus service: Currently, if I take the subway into Manhattan, the last bus from the subway station to my house leaves at 11PM. If I wanted to stay later in Manhattan, I'd have no way home other than a long 30-minute walk, which is no pleasant in inclement weather. There should be 24 hour, regular bus service on all routes which service subway stations and service as a distributor to surrounding neighborhoods. 4. Improve subway express service: There are MANY facilities currently in place on the subway system for at the very least peak direction express service, namely: The "F"/Culver line (2-way express service until Church, then peak direction service southwards), "N"/Sea Beach Express Service (2-way service), "D"/West End service (peak direction), "J" peak direction express tracks east of Myrtle Ave., "1" service north of 96th St. (peak direction), "2" Service north of 180th St. (peak direction), "W" and "N" Astoria line (peak direction), "F" service east of Van Wyck (2-way express). These are in place and would require little or no work to restore or provide express service, yet the Mayor, the City, and the TA are silent on the issue. Indeed, recent community-based petitions signed by 3000 residents in Brooklyn to restore "F" express service are being ignored by TA officials as not currently practicable even though the tracks exist and express service was run as recently as the mid-1980's. 5. Improve subway nighttime service: It is ridiculous to have to wait 20 to 30 minutes for some trains at night; it is much faster in many cases to just drive home, especially on Friday and Saturday nights when so many people are waiting for a late night train that they are often too crowded to and require a wait for the next train. 6. Add more subway routes on existing track: There are a number of connections not currently in use which will facilitate improved service to areas where commuters currently save time by driving, including J/M service to midtown and uptown locations, G service at all times on the Queens Blvd. segment (with somewhat more limited service during rush hours to accommodate "V" service), and "V" service extended during rush hours to Brooklyn (in conjunction with "F" express service. Do not dispose of refurbished, older subway rolling stock (R-32, R-38, R-40, and R-42) when newer cars arrive but use these cars for added service and new routes. 7. Build new connections between existing routes: Instead of using $500 Million in Federal Funds and spending money on pandering ads featuring asthmatics, spend some money to build a connection between the "G" and "L" lines in Brooklyn, and between the "L" and Broadway and/or 6th Ave and/or 8TH Ave lines in Manhattan, providing additional Queens Blvd. service to downtown Manhattan (and possibly "loop service" if uptown connections are made) as well as direct service to Williamsburg and Canarsie residents downtown and to areas in northern/western Brooklyn. 8. Utilize little used/disused facilities: Build high level, handicapped access platforms along the LIRR LIC/Montauk Branch (which had limited service up until the late 1990s), re-construct the LIRR Rockaway/Woodhaven Branch with stations service central-eastern Queens and a direct, one-seat ride to JFK, utilize the LIRR "Garden City" branch for a large Park and Ride facility along the Meadowbrook Parkway and concomitant one-seat ride into New York, and re-build the Putnam Division in Westchester and Putnam Counties to provide additional service into either Grand Central or Penn. 9. Fix the current roads so that they are passable: New York City has some of the worst roads in the developed world, and does little to fix potholes, degraded road surfaces, and road hazards, causing drivers to slow down, wear and breakdowns on City buses and other vehicles, and generally adds to the overall level of congestion. 10. Build Safe and Patrolled Park and Rides at outer subway line stations and LIRR stations in NYC: If the Washington Metro can do it, and Boston's "T" can do it, and BART can do it, why can't New York build a series of safe, secure, well-lit, patrolled, modestly priced commuter garages at the periphery of the current subway system and along LIRR stations were feasible to allow people who would otherwise drive a means whereby they can drive to a parking lot where they can be assured of a safe spot, and take the train or express bus into the Manhattan. 11. And yes -- build some new roads to keep up the the growth of the City and surrounding areas. Most of the ideas are not expensive or grandiose projects, but graduated, easily accomplished means to mitigate the current state of congestion. The City of New York should not -- nor should any municipality -- be in the business of "punishing" commuters who opt for a given modality of transportation by driving when they City, the TA, and the MTA fail them so miserably. If the Mayor were truly interested in reducing congestion and making mass transit more attractive for those who choose to drive, he would use his political prowess and expend his energies to break down the barriers imposed by the long-standing satrapies of various agencies and interests involved in New York City's and the region's transit and traffic planning and management, and implement these and other less onerous proposals which have been suggested over the years. Instead, the Mayor coyly and cynically calls for "cleaner, better air" and "less congestion" when in fact he really just wants to toll the free bridges in a manner that is least offensive to the TBTA and those who can afford to/wish to pay their tolls, and burdensome and unfair to the many under-represented commuters who have for years been ignored by the TA and the MTA and who will have no other choice but to pay for the Mayor's self-serving pet-project.