John Kaehny
Recent Posts
Congestion Pricing Plan Includes a “Livable Streets Lock Box”
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There is a nice surprise for City Council, neighborhood groups and transportation reformers in the congestion pricing plan approved by the Traffic Mitigation Commission yesterday. On page 8 of the plan, in a section called "Securing of parking revenues," the commission proposes dedicating all revenue raised within the congestion pricing zone from additional parking meter […]
Your Opportunity to Change New York City Parking Policy
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What if you were given the chance to help erase up to a quarter of the traffic on your neighborhood streets? Would you take it? Transportation Alternatives found that an astounding 45 percent of the traffic in Park Slope and 28 percent in SoHo is cruising for parking. Many other neighborhoods are equally plagued with […]
Let’s Hear About Mayor Bloomberg’s Transit Improvement Plan
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Kevin Sheekey: Bring this man home to talk about the transit improvements congestion pricing will fund. Sixty Percent of New Yorkers support Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to impose a congestion pricing fee on traffic entering Manhattan’s Central Business District and spending the resulting money on transit improvements. According to the pollsters at Quinnipiac, that support hasn’t […]
Congestion Pricing: Bloomberg Needs to Sweeten the Deal
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Webster Avenue and Fordham Road, the Bronx Congestion pricing is in trouble. With just weeks to go before the Traffic Mitigation Commission makes its recommendations to the City Council and State Legislature, public support is waning and opponents appear to have the upper hand. The one sales pitch that scored high in public opinion polls, […]
Its Showtime for the DOT Parking Team
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As usual, traffic was heavy on 125th Street outside the Alhambra Ballroom in central Harlem, Wednesday evening, where the Department of Transportation held its fourth of seven planned workshops to discuss parking strategies in neighborhoods bordering the City’s proposed congestion pricing zone. According to Bruce Schaller, Deputy Commissioner for Planning and Sustainability at the DOT, […]
Mayor Norman Mailer: Free Bikes, Clean Air and No Private Cars
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Michael Frumin, who worked with the Regional Plan Association to develop the intriguing Triboro RX concept a while back, has a vintage 1969 Mailer-Breslin mayoral campaign poster up on his Frumination blog today. The artwork was squirreled away by Frumin’s grandfather for 30 years. It’s worth a look. Norman Mailer, the great American writer, larger […]
10,000 New Bike Parking Spaces for London Schools
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Speaking of bike parking, 10,000 new bike parking spaces have been installed in 400 London schools since the 2004 launch of the Mayor’s School Cycle Parking Programme, Transport for London announced yesterday. This year alone TfL will spend £1.2 million on school bike parking (that’s $2.5 million and rising). Many of the new bike parking […]
Push for Congestion Pricing Spurs Parking Reform
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It may not have been Mayor Bloomberg’s intention when he proposed congestion pricing, but he has put reforming curbside parking policies front and center. Desperate for "alternatives" to pricing, opponents have borrowed proposals to hike curbside parking rates, and price free curb spaces. These parking reforms which would significantly reduce double-parking and traffic snarling […]
RPA Refutes Anti-Pricing “Alternatives” Study
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On Wednesday, Jeffrey Zupan, Regional Plan Association’s transportation analyst, issued a comprehensive rebuttal of the main traffic reducing measures proposed in Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free’s anti-congestion pricing report, “Alternative Approaches to Traffic Congestion Mitigation in the Manhattan Central Business District." Thanks to Zupan, Transportation Alternatives and other critics, four fundamental problems with the Keep […]
Refresher: What is Congestion Pricing?
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There seems to be some confusion by both friends and foes of congestion pricing as to what it actually is. "Congestion pricing" is a term of art that refers to congestion tolls, road pricing or road tolling or other road user fees. It is a concept distinct from charging for parking. The foremost expert on […]
Fact Remains: No Congestion Pricing = No Federal Funds
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Last week, the parking garage industry-funded group Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free issued its latest salvo against congestion pricing. The report begins: Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free proposes a cost-effective, efficient, fair and practical alternative plan that will address the problems posed by congestion in New York City and exceed the guidelines imposed by the […]
Congestion Pricing: What’s the Deal?
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Nobody knows whether the convoluted and difficult congestion pricing "deal" reached by political leaders yesterday will actually result in anything. The deal is complex even by Albany standards. A few things, however, are clear: Mayor Bloomberg does not have a "green light" to move forward with congestion pricing, nor has he been granted any new […]