The right way to do congestion pricing

By now we all know the sad saga: Over many decades, mayors and governors have failed to invest in and maintain the subways on which we all rely, bringing us to the current crisis in which our deteriorating system is saddled with breakdowns, delays and worse. It’s an object lesson on the risks of trying to fund a $1 trillion transit system — vital to the lives and livelihoods of millions of New Yorkers — on the cheap.

Yet there’s little value in dwelling on what went wrong. More important now is to address the crisis head on.

That means coming up with a serious plan to upgrade and modernize our ailing transit system while reining in our chronic traffic congestion, which costs the region an estimated $15-$20 billion a year in lost economic productivity. The time for half measures has long passed.

In embracing congestion pricing as the best one-stone, twobirds solution to funding transit and combatting traffic, Gov. Cuomo has shown real leadership. In order for his vision to become a reality, two things must happen.

First, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan must join Cuomo in committing themselves to enacting a congestion pricing plan as part of the 2018-19 state budget, to be approved by April 1.

Second, Albany must go for broke in designing a plan commensurate to the crisis we face — not a timid approach inside bold wrapping paper.

To be considered a real congestion pricing plan, the proposal that comes out of Albany must include, at least, a “cordon toll,” whereby vehicles are charged to enter the Central Business District, and a surcharge on for-hire vehicles within the “taxi zone” (Manhattan south of 96th St.).

Those fees ought to be significant enough to raise $1.5 billion a year in net revenue and improve vehicle speeds in the CBD by roughly 20%.

To be politically viable, it is critical that the plan be effective in addressing the needs of New York’s commuters and equitable in assigning costs and benefits. The Move NY plan, which is widely recognized as the gold standard for congestion pricing plans, does just that.

While the plan’s baseline objective is improving transit and reducing traffic, it pays particular attention to three partially overlapping constituencies: outer borough residents, drivers and lowincome families. To get congestion pricing through the budget process, these three groups have to see concrete benefits.

For instance, in addition to improving vehicle speeds within the CBD by an estimated 20%, and 5%-8% outside it, the Move NY plan helps drivers by proposing a “toll swap” whereby the MTA’s seven outer bridge tolls are cut nearly in half, to balance out new central business district tolls.

The plan also dedicates onequarter of its revenue to fixing roads and bridges. Drivers thus get a lot in return for their toll dollar — which is why New York’s leading auto and truck clubs, previous sworn foes of additional tolls, have expressed openness and even support for the plan.

Move NY plan is fundamentally fair in other ways, too. For commercial vehicles, it places a cap on the Central Business District charge of once per day (round trip) in recognition of the fact that businesses often need their vehicles to make deliveries or service calls.

Of the $15 billion that could be raised by bonding $1 billion of the annual revenue, $10 billion would go to the MTA to upgrade the system — to replace signals and rolling stock among other essential investments.

Four billion dollars of the remaining $5 billion would be dedicated to a Transit Gap Improvement Fund to bring new MTA transit service to areas of the city that don’t have it. The remaining $1 billion would do the same for the suburbs in Long Island and the lower Hudson Valley.

Finally, a portion of the annual revenue would go to subsidize a fare discount program geared toward low-income families. A leading idea is “Fair Fares,” which would provide discounted MetroCards for the working poor.

Our transit system and city roads are a mess. Let’s make sure that the agony New York’s riders and drivers are experiencing is not for naught. As an American economist once said, “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.”