“Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. Give the congestion pricing program at least one full year to operate unfettered and then re-evaluate or make necessary adjustments where needed.”
“We deserve a city with affordable, safe and reliable public transportation, clean, breathable air and roads that work for all who rely on them.”
“Congestion pricing is not just about alleviating traffic; it’s about recognizing that a future designed around the automobile is one of economic stagnation.”
In the face of climate change, the MTA must deal with excessive heat in its subway system and find ways to keep over 3 million daily riders cool.
The MTA says losing the revenue generated from congestion pricing could create a domino effect that impacts a series of climate resiliency projects, like fortifying the subway system from flooding and extreme heat.
“Congestion pricing is just one of many tools that will help tame some of the city street chaos a generation of car-centric planning left us with. And one of the primary benefactors of congestion pricing will be automobile drivers themselves.”
“Police, Sanitation, and other government workers have long called Staten Island home, thanks to its affordability when compared to the other boroughs, great schools, and safer neighborhoods. Yet that affordability is now being threatened by a pricing program to fund a system that consistently underinvests in our great borough.”
This summer, utility companies must submit plans detailing how they’ll implement a series of solutions to make electricity rates more affordable for electric vehicles. But their plan has fallen short of giving the MTA the preferential rate it says it needs to able to foot the bill, as it seeks to transition its 5,800-bus fleet off fossil fuels.
“If New York’s city and state leaders truly prioritize a society where social equity as well as environmental sustainability are fundamental values, discussion of subway and bus fare increases would not be on the table. And if the overarching goal is to bring riders back to the nation’s greatest public transit system, why disincentivize them with higher fares?”
“In its current form, the state’s congestion pricing plan falls short of meaningfully addressing impacts on New York’s disabled community—a community the MTA has neglected for decades.”
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