CONGESTION PRICING... FOR CONNECTICUT?

 

Oh Happy Day!  Congestion pricing is finally happening in New York City’s CBD (Central Business District), i.e. midtown-Manhattan.

After decades of discussion, years of studies, dozens of court cases and numerous delays, motorists who chose to drive into midtown Manhattan (below 60^th Street) will now be charged a toll based on the size of their vehicle and the time of day.  Full details can be found here.

Finally, someone is doing something to deal with too many cars / trucks and not enough space.  Though it will be initially unpopular, precedent-setting cases in other major cities indicate that this tolling plan will limit unnecessary traffic and speed up the remaining cars while raising billions of dollars for mass transit.

According to the MTA, only 11% of CT residents who commute into midtown Manhattan chose to drive.  The vast majority of NYC-bound commuters from Connecticut take Metro-North, saving time and (now, even more) money.

Sure, driving to NYC makes sense if you’ve got a full car or are heading to some destinations.  Driving can be more convenient… if you don’t mind paying up to $50 for parking.  That’s your choice.

But that choice has huge implications on others when your car adds to the 700,000 vehicles in midtown Manhattan each weekday.  Now you will pay more for the privilege.  Yes, privilege, as you have no constitutional right to drive there.

Driving to Manhattan already costs you in terms of gasoline, wear and tear, tolls on bridges and, most of all, your time.  In weekday rush hours driving from Bridgeport to midtown takes about two hours, barring serious delays.  By train the same journey takes about an hour and a half.  But on the train you can work, read or take a nap.

Mind you, the train could be faster.

The railroad is still lumbering along under Federal “slow train” orders, years after it suffered twin derailments.  And despite rumors of revamping the timetables to allow “zoned express” trains, the service schedule has changed little in recent years: too many trains make too many stops, slowing trip times.

As commuters keep telling us, we need more and faster trains.

To their credit the railroad is complimenting congestion pricing with experiments on weekend discounts for monthly pass holders.  While Metro-North fares are among the highest in the US, they’re still a bargain compared to driving… especially with congestion pricing now layered on.

Here’s an idea that won’t win me many friends:  if this tolling plan proves successful in Manhattan, let’s try it on our interstates.  We all know that I-95 is at saturation and it’s time to reconsider “value pricing” our roads.

But such a move would require action of the Legislature and its doubtful they’d be bold enough to act, preferring to instead “study the problem”.

Well, let’s all study New York City and learn from their experience and, hopefully, their success with congestion pricing.