Given that it was only a few months ago that Mayor Michael Bloomberg could be heard saying, "We like traffic, it means economic activity, it means people coming here," his pitch for a whole new set of progressive transportation policies at last week’s meeting of the Regional Plan Association was all the more remarkable:

There are certain facts that we’ve just all got to face up to–facts about congestion’s impact on our environment, our economy, our health, and our future–on our lives, and the lives of our chlidren. Facts about how we’re going to pay for the transportation projects we need to keep our region from choking on its growth in the decades to come.

We’re ready to have a reality-based dialogue with anyone about any element of our transportation plan, including congestion pricing. We’ll talk about the boundaries of the congestion pricing zone, the fees that might be charged, the hours they would be applicable, and the methodology for administering the program.

But what we won’t do–what we can’t do–is postpone essential decisions any longer. We won’t ignore–if you’ll excuse the expression–the "inconvenient truths" of the difficult challenges we face.

Download the text here. And the speech itself can be viewed in the following three video clips courtesy of RPA: