This column was first published On The Way is a transportation newsletter that covers everything you need to know about New York transit. sign up Get the full version in your inbox every Thursday.
The congestion pricing plan approved by the MTA board this week may require a 60-day public review, but New Yorkers shouldn’t expect any major adjustments or changes to the plan.
change Daytime price is $15 MTA Chairman Jano Lieber said Wednesday, citing this transportation reporter, that targeting drivers entering Manhattan at or below 60th Street, or adding more exemptions for drivers, would remove blocks from the Jenga puzzle. “It’s like taking it out,” he said.
“If you change one aspect…the whole thing starts to unravel or fall apart,” Lieber said. “If you change anything, it’s definitely going to be a very complex calculation.”
His comments are a direct rebuttal of Mayor Eric Adams’ statements last week, in which he claimed the plan approved by the advisory committee was “the beginning of a conversation.”
This says what the congestion pricing system is all about. So the base price is $15. 75% off nightly rates, drivers who pass through the tunnel and enter the toll zone will receive a $5 credit. This is almost fully realized. Any major changes can derail your entire plan.
That’s because tolls are required by law to bring in $1 billion a year in revenue. Like the flapping of a butterfly’s wings in the past, one small change can have big consequences.
Lieber said a major adjustment to the toll structure could trigger a “doomsday scenario” that would send the plan back to the Federal Highway Administration for months of review. Nevertheless, the MTA must maintain the following: another public hearing It is necessary to clarify the new fees and at least dispel the public’s concerns.
“In an ideal world, you wouldn’t interfere [it] It’s too much,” Lieber said. “That being said, we take the public comment process very seriously.”
While major changes to the toll structure are unlikely, the MTA board made it clear that the agency is taking one of Adams’ complaints about congestion pricing seriously. Lieber said the advisory committee’s recommendation to charge for school buses has already been reconsidered.
He said the MTA doesn’t want to charge buses that transport children. However, the same school buses are sometimes repurposed as party buses at night, and authorities are not yet sure how to differentiate between the two uses.
Two lawsuits brought by New Jersey lawmakers are looming over the MTA board’s landmark vote. Gov. Phil Murphy and Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich are both fighting to block the program in federal court.the judge who oversees those cases has the power to delay or kill Current congestion pricing plan.
The state Legislature originally planned to introduce congestion pricing more than two years ago. Subsequent delays have already forced the agency to freeze plans to replace outdated signaling equipment on the A and C subway lines in Brooklyn. Further delays could result in other projects being postponed.
curious commuter
question:
“Why do I have to pay to ride the JFK AirTrain to the subway, but not to the airport parking lot or rental car station?”
– Tim, from Park Slope
answer:
Most AirTrain passengers are unhappy with the $8.25 fare (scheduled to rise to $8.50 next year). But Tim raises an interesting point. Why tax transit users while giving drivers a free pass? Port Authority officials told me they had no choice but to offer free airport circulation on the AirTrain. Tootscoot says the high costs of subway and LIRR connections subsidize its $77.3 million annual operating costs. AirTrain passengers from the parking lot have already paid their fares, port officials said. But as Tim writes in an email, the price still “feels like a total rip-off.”
I have a question? @Gothamist’s Instagram Give your followers a special opportunity and encourage them to submit questions.
You can also send it by email cguse@wnyc.org or snessen@wnyc.org The subject line was “Commuters’ questions”.
This week in transportation history: MTA announces plans for V Train
In the first week of December 2000, the MTA announced plans for the V Train. A year later, he began running from his Second Avenue on the Lower East Side up his Sixth Avenue, across the East River at 53rd Street, and into Forest Hills. After decades of delays, the MTA finally connected the subway tracks from the 63rd Street East River Tunnel to the subway line under Queens Boulevard. The MTA will run his F line along the new connection, giving it space to start the V line. The new line also upset his G line users, as service on the line ended at Court Square at the same time as the V line began. Previously, it was served by the G line. To Forest Hills. The experiment was short-lived. In 2010, the MTA, amidst funding shortfalls due to the Great Recession, discontinued service on the V Line and replaced it with the M Line, which runs along the Manhattan-Queens route.