T.A. Ad Drives It Home … to Westchester

By Brad Aaron
Mar 21, 2008

Taking aim at the richest irony of the
faux-populist case against congestion pricing, Transportation Alternatives has released this ad [PDF], coming soon to a newspaper near you. The copy reads:

Drivers from Westchester earn an average income of $176,231.

Only 4% of New York City commuters would pay the congestion fee.

100% of the congestion fee goes to improving mass transit.

Do the math:

Congestion Pricing = Better Transit

You know, he even sort of looks like that other guy from Westchester.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Gov. Cuomo. Photo: Governor’s Office/Flickr

So Far Cuomo’s Congestion Pricing “Plan” Is All Sizzle, No Steak

By Ben Fried | Aug 21, 2017

It's not congestion pricing if it doesn't toll the East River bridges. There are a number of impostor policies that Cuomo could try to pass off as "congestion pricing" instead.

The opposition to congestion pricing boils down to just 5,200 New York City drivers.

Straw Men: The Fight Over Congestion Pricing Comes Down to Just 5,200 NYC Drivers

By Dave Colon | May 22, 2023

A minuscule number of New York City residents commute by car to the tolling zone of Manhattan from homes that are more than one-half mile from high-speed public transit.

Infrastructure Bigs: To Compete, NYC Needs Congestion Pricing, Tolls

By Noah Kazis | Feb 1, 2010

Tolls at the Holland Tunnel. Now the Port Authority is looking for the next financing model. Image: Library of Congress. At a panel put on by the New School last week, some of New York’s biggest players in transportation and planning came together to discuss the future of the city’s infrastructure. They all seemed to […]

Ghost of Congestion Pricing Lingers at RPA’s 2010 Regional Assembly

By Ben Fried | Apr 16, 2010

Even when there’s no breaking news at the RPA’s regional assembly, the annual get-together at the Waldorf Astoria is a good time to gauge the collective mood of the people who run the region’s transportation systems and think about planning for New York City’s future. How often do you get the heads of the MTA, […]

You Know What’s Fundamentally Regressive? NYC’s Current Toll System

By Ben Fried | Nov 27, 2013

Well, a few words from Andrew Cuomo made clear that fixing NYC’s broken road pricing system won’t be on the table before next year’s statewide elections. But some opponents of congestion pricing — notably, Eastern Queens City Council Member Mark Weprin — are warming to Sam Schwartz’s toll reform plan, which calls for a uniform […]

What We Know So Far About Cuomo’s MTA Reinvention Commission

By Stephen Miller | Jul 9, 2014

In early May, Governor Andrew Cuomo directed the MTA to create a “transportation reinvention” panel as the authority prepared its next five-year capital plan. Members were appointed late last month, and the commission has launched Facebook and Twitter accounts. But details about its agenda and how open it will be to the public are scant. […]