John Kaehny

Speaking of bike parking, 10,000 new bike parking spaces have been installed in 400 London schools since the 2004 launch of the Mayor's School Cycle Parking Programme, Transport for London announced yesterday. This year alone TfL will spend £1.2 million on school bike parking (that's $2.5 million and rising). Many of the new bike parking facilities are indoors or otherwise protected from weather and often include lockers. Jenny Jones, Mayor Ken Livingstone's Green Transport Advisor, said:

 

On Wednesday, Jeffrey Zupan, Regional Plan Association's transportation analyst, issued a comprehensive rebuttal of the main traffic reducing measures proposed in Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free's anti-congestion pricing report, “Alternative Approaches to Traffic Congestion Mitigation in the Manhattan Central Business District."

There seems to be some confusion by both friends and foes of congestion pricing as to what it actually is. "Congestion pricing" is a term of art that refers to congestion tolls, road pricing or road tolling or other road user fees. It is a concept distinct from charging for parking. The foremost expert on charging more for on-street parking, UCLA professor Donald Shoup, explains as much in the "Congestion Pricing" section of his book The Cost of Free Parking. But if Shoup is not enough, the USDOT's Federal Highway Administration has provided a handy web site containing its definition of congestion pricing. Since the USDOT has promised NYC $354.5 million if it adopts a congestion pricing scheme covering the Central Business District of Manhattan, the agency's definition of congestion pricing matters.

Last week, the parking garage industry-funded group Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free issued its latest salvo against congestion pricing. The report begins:

Nobody knows whether the convoluted and difficult congestion pricing "deal" reached by political leaders yesterday will actually result in anything. The deal is complex even by Albany standards. A few things, however, are clear:

Yesterday, New York State's Four Men in a Room agreed to a process that may or may not result in congestion pricing for New York City. Even by Albany standards, Bloomberg, Spitzer, Silver and Bruno's deal is incredibly complex. The deal, which is supposed to be formalized by a vote in the state legislature shortly, lays out very specific deadlines that must be achieved before New York City is granted the power to collect congestion charges. The first step in even beginning to understand the implications of yesterday's deal is to understand the timeline that it set forth.

An enforcement camera in London captures a motorist in the bus lane.

Did you watch Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing testimony before the New York State legislature? If so, what did you think? Here is the initial impression of John Kaehny, former executive director of Transportation Alternatives: 

On Earth Day Mayor Mike Bloomberg placed transportation and environmental issues at the top of New York City's political agenda. He took a major step towards changing the conventional wisdom that traffic congestion is a sign of the city's vibrancy and economic health. And he joined the list of forward-thinking global mayors like London's Ken Livingstone and Bertrand Delanoe in Paris who have said that excessive automobile dependence is a drag on the urban economy, detrimental to public health, and a contributor to global climate change.