Move NY
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Fair Tolls: Fixing NYC’s Gridlock and Transit Shortfall in One Fell Swoop
When Governor Nelson Rockefeller merged New York's commuter rail lines, the NYC Transit Authority, and Robert Moses’s Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority to form the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in 1968, he had several motives. The new agency consolidated political power, made more efficient use of regional infrastructure, and devoted surplus bridge and tunnel toll revenues to rescue a faltering transit system.
October 7, 2014
Unlike Toll Reform, a Sales Tax Really Is a Regressive Way to Fund Transit
The MTA capital program is facing a $12 billion shortfall, according to Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, and unless that gap is closed, transit riders will end up paying even more to cover the agency's ballooning debt load. There's one clear way to address that problem while cleaning up the traffic mess that ensnares motorists, bus riders, pedestrians, and cyclists alike -- raising revenue by reforming NYC's broken toll system. But a leader of Governor Cuomo's MTA Reinvention Commission appears to favor a regressive option that won't fix the dysfunction on city streets.
July 29, 2014
The Move NY Fair Tolling Plan Is Polling Better Than Congestion Pricing
Toll reform is polling better in New York City than congestion pricing did, even when pollsters don't mention that the Move NY plan would mean billions in transit revenue.
June 16, 2014
Instead of Reforming NYC Tolls, Ruben Diaz, Jr. Proposes Soaking the Bronx
Like the Tea Party adherents who are always going to equate walkability and sustainable transportation with a global UN conspiracy, some New York City electeds are always going to call road pricing "regressive" no matter how much the evidence suggests otherwise.
April 8, 2014
Congestion Pricing Foes Sit Down at the Table With Fair Toll Advocates
After years of meetings and tweaks, the Move NY fair toll campaign launched this morning with a simple message: With AAA and trucking interests at the table beside transit advocates, reforming New York's broken toll system actually has a shot. It's a different beast than the congestion pricing plan that Mayor Bloomberg pushed for six years ago, with more obvious benefits for New Yorkers who don't live in Manhattan.
March 21, 2014
You Know What’s Fundamentally Regressive? NYC’s Current Toll System
Well, a few words from Andrew Cuomo made clear that fixing NYC's broken road pricing system won't be on the table before next year's statewide elections. But some opponents of congestion pricing -- notably, Eastern Queens City Council Member Mark Weprin -- are warming to Sam Schwartz's toll reform plan, which calls for a uniform price on entry points into the Manhattan core, including the East River bridges and 60th Street, paired with lower prices on less congested, outlying bridges.
November 27, 2013
This Weekend, NYC’s Traffic Dysfunction Gets Worse
In case you missed it, Crain's ran a good piece today wherein "Gridlock" Sam Schwartz explained one of the less-publicized effects of the MTA fare and toll hikes slated to take effect this weekend. NYC's already-dysfunctional road pricing system is about to make even less sense.
February 28, 2013
Have the Days of Scapegoating the MTA Come to an End?
MTA Love. Two words that have never before been paired have been practically joined at the hip during the recovery from Superstorm Sandy. To wit:
November 12, 2012
Rebuilding New York City for a New Reality
“Climate change is a reality… for us to sit here today and say this is a once-in-a-generation, and it’s not going to happen again, I think would be short-sighted… I’m hopeful that not only will we rebuild this city and metropolitan area but use this as an opportunity to build it back smarter.”
November 2, 2012
The Toll Map That Should Pique the Interest of Every Staten Island Elected
In case you missed it, today the Staten Island Advance rounded up outraged quotes from local politicos in response to the MTA's proposed fare and toll hikes. Big emphasis on "toll hikes" -- it's the prospect of paying more to cross the Verrazano Bridge that has State Senator Andrew Lanza vowing to somehow defeat the proposal in Albany, while U.S. Representative Michael Grimm pledged to do the same through an act of Congress.
October 16, 2012