Bridge Tolls
Streetsblog Basics
Support the MTA Rescue: Be Your Own Lobbyist
As debate on the MTA rescue plan is reduced to stall tactics and race-baiting, the Campaign for New York's Future is organizing a Lobby Day citizen bus trip to Albany, set for next Wednesday, March 18.
March 11, 2009
Beyond Ravitch: Still Time for a Bolder Plan
As Albany lawmakers ponder which of a half-dozen Ravitch plan variations they might support, the possibility looms that no solution may come in time. New Yorkers could see their fares rise 25 percent while service is cut back -- a twin catastrophe in this tough economic time. Yet no big new ideas are being advanced to protect mass transit users, which is why I believe the time has come for consideration of Ted Kheel’s and my traffic plan.
March 10, 2009
Weiner Says New York Drivers Should Be Exempt From Tolls
Congressman Anthony Weiner released his own MTA rescue plan today. As if that in itself weren't surprising enough, the outspoken toll opponent has modified his position, sort of. City Room reports:
March 9, 2009
MTA Rescue Alert: Tell Electeds What You Oppose
In response to the possible sinking of the MTA rescue plan by three recalcitrant state senators, the Campaign for New York's Future has set up an action alert enabling members of the public to contact their representatives directly via e-mail. The message, which may be tailored before sending, reads in part:
March 6, 2009
Bus Riders Testify About the Necessity of Transit
Like New York and dozens of other American cities, Minneapolis is facing the prospect of higher transit fares and less service amid the economic downturn. To impress upon state lawmakers that their constituents depend on transit to meet basic needs, the St. Stephen's Human Rights Campaign compiled this video of testimonials from bus riders (hat tip to Twin Cities Streets for People; see all the testimonials here). They asked a simple question: What do you use the bus for?
March 6, 2009
Kruger, Espada, and Diaz Leave MTA Rescue on Life Support
The three city reps who nearly derailed the Democratic takeover of the State Senate have issued a joint statement declaring -- transit riders be damned -- they're not going to support bridge tolls. Liz Benjamin at the Daily Politics has the story:
March 5, 2009
Lew Fidler Threatens to Thwart Bridge Tolls
As opposition to East and Harlem River bridge tolls is reportedly "softening" in the State Senate, Lew Fidler tells Crain's that a transfer of city-owned crossings to the MTA would require a home rule message from the City Council, and says he would join efforts to stop such a transfer in order to prevent tolls from being enacted. The full blurb is behind the subscriber wall, but here are Fidler's quotes.
March 5, 2009
Espaillat to Westchester: My District Is Your Doormat
Last March, Assembly Member Adriano Espaillat stood with Mayor Bloomberg in Fordham Plaza, celebrating the announcement of the city's inaugural Select Bus Service line. In the thick of the battle over congestion pricing, its fate to be determined within days, Espaillat was one of few state pols to vocally support the mayor's proposal. Flanked by Bloomberg, Elliot Sander, Janette Sadik-Khan and other pricing advocates, the Northern Manhattan rep did not mince words.
March 4, 2009
Hello MTA Bailout, So Long Truck Tsunami?
Sheldon Silver's partial endorsement of the Ravitch Commission's MTA rescue plan [PDF], which includes East and Harlem River bridge tolls, offers the best political hope
in years for reducing the daily truck
tsunami pulverizing downtown Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan.
March 3, 2009