Tag: congestion pricing plan

Federal Bailout the MTA?

subwayblogger6 Comments

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/syndication?id=36806859&path=%2Fnews%2Fbusiness

Hell, why not?  If banks, auto manufacturers, and more are all bellying up to the pork buffet, why can’t the MTA?

Senator Chuck Schumer wants the federal government to write a check for a few billion dollars to bail out the MTA.

Just think, this could have been done back when Congestion Pricing was all the rage.  It wouldn’t have been a bailout either.  Under the Congestion Pricing plan, the city would have received a massive grant to fund the building of the infrastructure to get the system off the ground…to the tune of $500 million.  Much of it would have also went to improving services to handle the expected increase in ridership.

Then, the city would have created a new and massive revenue source…all of the congestion pricing fees (taxes) that could have been funneled right back into maintaining the MTA services.

But noooo…we had to block that.  F*cking idiots.  Everyone who opposed that plan should be booted out of office.

Would it have completely avoided the current crisis?  Probably not, but it would have done a ton to make it better.  The estimated yearly revenue generated from the congestion pricing plan is around $491 million.  That would have gone a long way to helping get us out of the disaster we are currently lost in.

Paterson Backs Congestion Pricing

subwayblogger8 Comments

There may be hope after all!

Gov. David Paterson announced his support of Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan for NYC.

“Congestion pricing addresses two urgent concerns of the residents of new York City and its suburbs: The Need to reduce congestion on our streets and roads, and thereby reduce pollution, and the need to raise significant revenue for mass transit improvement,” Paterson said.” [Daily News]

Of course, it eventually turned into a bit of a political stroke job when Bloomberg (and other pols in support of congestion pricing) started saying things like “…Paterson has shown true leadership ability…” etc.

“Congestion Pricing addresses two urgent concerns of the residents of New York City and its suburbs: the need to reduce congestion on our streets and roads, and thereby reduce pollution and global warming; and the need to raise significant revenue for mass transit improvements. We expect that revenue from the Congestion Pricing plan will support more than $4.5 billion in needed capital improvements for mass transit and meaningfully reduce traffic into the Central Business District of Manhattan. Before the constructive process of deliberation proceeds in both the City Council and the State Legislature, transparency requires that the public fully see what the system envisioned by the Commission will entail. While Commission Report highlighted other issues which need to be resolved, introducing this bill allows the City Council and Legislature to examine the details of the proposal and make an informed judgment on the Congestion Pricing program.” – David Paterson

So it seems positive thus far. As long as everyone keeps their eyes on the ball, perhaps this wild idea stands a chance. I must say, the more times they can say the words “$____ for transit improvements…” on the record, the better. Then there will be less room for them to wiggle out of it once the city gets the federal funding.