Bridge Tolls
Streetsblog Basics
Needed: A Better Way to Sweeten the Ravitch Plan
Wondering how the revised version of the Ravitch plan compares to what's come before? Here's a look at the tweaks proposed yesterday by the Ravitch Commission:
April 16, 2009
The Latest in Piecemeal Transit Funding
State legislators are about to head home for the Easter and Passover holiday, leaving transit riders to twist in the wind a while longer without an MTA funding plan in place. Martin Malave Dilan, chair of the State Senate's transportation committee, gave Politicker's Jimmy Vielkind one last debriefing before the legislative break:
April 8, 2009
Has John Liu Jumped the Shark on MTA Rescue?
While his colleague from Brooklyn Bill de Blasio has given his blessing to tolls on East River bridges, Queens City Council Member John Liu -- who, as of this writing, is running for city comptroller -- seems to have officially joined the chorus of electeds who insist that the MTA's dire financial straits constitute a crisis of the agency's own making.
April 6, 2009
MTA Blame Game: The View from Staten Island
Here's State Senator Andrew Lanza, a Staten Island Republican, explaining why he supports tolls on the East River bridges. For Staten Island drivers looking at a $3 hike in cash tolls to cross the Verrazano (or a $1.32 hike for locals with E-ZPass), the sight of other motorists getting a free pass into Manhattan must be a source of perpetual gall and resentment.
April 6, 2009
Bill de Blasio Comes Out for $2 East River Bridge Tolls
Late last week, Brooklyn City Council member and current candidate for public advocate Bill de Blasio released this statement on MTA funding:
April 6, 2009
Adriano Espaillat: Upper Manhattan Prefers Doomsday to Bridge Tolls
It was a little surprising to see Upper Manhattan Assembly Member Adriano Espaillat, one of the few state electeds to support congestion pricing without reservation, come out so strongly against the Ravitch MTA rescue plan, and the tolling of East and Harlem River bridges in particular. Now we have this recent post from an e-mail list for Inwood parents:
April 2, 2009
Under Sander, How “Bloated and Wasteful” Is the MTA?
A Monday editorial from Crain's questioned the wisdom of sacrificing MTA head Lee Sander as part of any transit rescue plan, as rumors swirl that Governor David Paterson wants Marc Shaw to return to the agency's top spot.
April 1, 2009
Working Families Party Leaps Into ‘Halt the Hike’ Mode
Yesterday, after bridge tolls were officially ruled dead and before the latest breakdown in MTA rescue talks, the Working Families Party sent out an alert that its "Halt the Hike" campaign is back in full swing. In an email exchange with WFP spokesman Dan Levitan, I asked why, given the big income disparities between car commuters and transit riders, the party waited so long to join the fray. Does the Working Families Party oppose bridge tolls and road pricing? He wrote back:
April 1, 2009
Fare Hike Four Open Door to Suburban Copycats
It seems like only yesterday that the three men emerged from their room with vague talk of an emerging scheme to spare transit riders -- temporarily, at least -- the pain of fare hikes and service cuts required, minus help from Albany, to keep the MTA afloat. But as the Times reports, a new development would catch the triumvirate flat-footed.
April 1, 2009
Three Men in a Room Spike Bridge Tolls
Breaking news from The Politicker's Jimmy Vielkind:
March 31, 2009