Wrong-way congestion pricing

The mayor is pushing for the MTA to move quickly on implementing congestion pricing on commuters. Even after the feds came through with billions, the MTA needs money, and this is one way to raise the funds for better subway service. As a former city transportation commissioner and former MTA board member who advocated for earlier forms of congestion pricing, I am generally supportive of the concept. But this incarnation may miss the whole point of the original concept by failing to focus on the real cause of congestion, while missing a more effective way of raising money for subways and buses.

The argument for congestion pricing was originally based on three principles. The first was economic: to create an economic rationale for the allocation of scarce street space. The second argument was environmental: to disincentivize the use of cars, which were polluting the air. The third argument was transportation: to limit traffic by giving commuters a nudge to use mass transit. The money raised could then be used to improve those transit options.

But today, Manhattan’s central core is more of a hollow shell. With so many people and businesses recognizing they can do business without occupying Manhattan office space, it might not be the best time to make coming to town a more expensive proposition.

Meantime, in the past 40 years cars have become cleaner and cleaner. With electric cars in increasingly wide adoption, environmental impact is not nearly the pressing concern it once was.

As for transportation, this plan targets the wrong problem. Of course, any vehicle in Midtown adds to congestion, but let’s look at the recent history. The Bloomberg administration balanced its budget by selling millions upon millions in taxi medallions after completing an Environmental Impact Statement which indicated there was room for a few thousand (not tens of thousands or even 100,000) more vehicles. So, although there was already congestion at the time, a traffic study indicated there was a small amount of room to grow.

From that time until the pandemic, there was essentially no increase in the number of commuter cars entering Midtown and no increase in yellow cabs. But at the same time, there was a 100,000 vehicle increase in Ubers, Lyfts and other for-hire vehicles, which, unlike commuters who mark, not only drive in but then drive around all day, adding to congestion exponentially. Because of those vehicles, not commuters, in the few years before the pandemic, Midtown traffic was miserable.

What’s even more galling is that these 100,000 for-hire vehicles essentially pay virtually nothing for the privilege of screwing up our transportation systems while the yellow cabs paid up to $1 million for a medallion and about $15,000 per year in fees to the MTA, the state and the city.

This is the exact opposite of the logic being used to advance congestion pricing. The mayor and his TLC let in 100,000 vehicles in the supposed scarce space without paying, stealing rides from the MTA and the yellows; only belatedly did de Blasio call for a cap on their numbers.

So, isn’t it obvious? To raise money for the MTA, we should charge the real vehicles that cause congestion. The Ubers and Lyfts should be the target of any additional charges first, not the commuters and especially not the yellow cabs who already have paid the price to operate in Manhattan and to this day have been perhaps criminally jilted.

Charge app-hail vehicles what the yellows pay and raise about half a billion dollars per year, enough to build a mile of new subway tunnel every year. The money can be raised just by passing a law, not by having to implement $100 million of electronic tolling systems throughout Manhattan. It can be done without interrupting Manhattan’s comeback. It can be done by not forcing people to decide between Manhattan and the East Coast of Florida. And it will reduce traffic, since it targets vehicles that make a living by roaming the narrow streets of Manhattan.

New York City needs a new subway line every 10 years for the next 1,000 years, while keeping the system we have safe and well-functioning, if it intends to maintain its position as a premier world-class city.

So first, charge the Ubers. Second, reduce the fees on the yellows or at least let the drivers keep the charge the state levied two years ago on each ride. At least then, the drivers and the owner-drivers can stop committing suicide. Third, dedicate the new cash to subway construction.

Then and only then, but only after office space vacancy has dropped to a sustainable amount — implement congestion pricing as currently envisioned.