Decongesting New York

Samuel I. Schwartz, P.E.October 11, 2007

Decongesting New York

• Reduce Number of Taxis• Cap Supply of Liveries (Issue

Medallions)• Charge Thru-Trucks $100• Curtail “Privileged Parkers”• Congestion Pricing

Daily News Op-Ed

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Vehicles in Motion in Midtown Core By Time of Day

• One million vehicles enter Manhattan each day.

• Midtown streets carry about 8000 moving vehicles at peak times.

• Thus seemingly small difference in number of vehicles can have large impact on vehicle speeds.

Vehicle Miles Traveled vs. Vehicles in Motion

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y=2.384(10-8)x2-1.372(10-3)+15.973

VEHICLES IN MOTION

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DTMT vs. TIM

• Reduction of Vehicle Miles Traveled• Peripheral parking and traffic impacts to

neighborhood• Privacy Issues• Air quality and environmental concerns• Impact on various economic classes• Cost of implementation• Best practices• Overall economic impact of any proposal

Shaw’s Criteria

Free Market Transportation

Lessons from London and Stockholm• London introduced Congestion Pricing (CP)

on February 17, 2003.

• Stockholm introduced CP for a six month trial period in January 2006. It was re-introduced August 2007 as a result of a referendum.

Lessons from London and Stockholm

Traffic is responsive to pricing at moderate levels. London charges 8£ or about $16 per day (this is $7 more than NYC charges at its Midtown and Battery tunnels).

Lessons from London and Stockholm

• A modest decrease in traffic volume yields big results; ~ 20% improvement in speeds/reliability

• Motorists will shift to transit in significant numbers if it’s available.

Lessons from London and Stockholm

• The voters are willing to sign on to pricing.• Increasing transit in preparation for charging is a must.• Businesses, on whole, don’t suffer.• Substantial amounts of money can be generated.

London’s Ken Livingstone was re-elected 16 months after introducing Congestion Pricing.

Lessons from London and Stockholm

• Air pollution benefits are significant.

• The infrastructure needed is modest ( compared to road building) and can be implemented in less than a year. Toll plazas are anachronisms.

• Traffic crashes decrease as a result of fewer vehicle miles traveled.

• Traffic on roads adjacent to the CP zones rose modestly.

Lessons from London and Stockholm

An extensive public education program is needed to gain support and to teach people how to used congestion charging.

Untangling NYC’s Gridlock

• $8 Charge for cars South of 86th Street• $21 for trucks• In effect 6am-6pm Mon-Fri• 50% discount for people within zone• FDR & West Side Highway free• No double-dipping (other tolls deducted)• Taxis, livery, buses & handicapped exempt

Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC 2030

• Viewed as a tax

• Sanctity of inter-borough travel

CONGESTION PRICING:Why has it failed in NYC?

East River Bridges: Tolled Until 1911Mayor Gaynor: [tolls] inconvenient and irksome…For my part, I see no more reason for tollgates on the bridges than for toll gates on Fifth Avenue or Broadway.

More Recent History• 1950’s William Vickrey proposes Congestion Pricing• 1973 Clean Air Act includes tolls on East & Harlem

River Bridges adopted by Mayor & Governor• 1977 City DOT Study• 1977 Moynihan – Holtzman Amendment• 1980 SOV’s required to use toll facilities• 1987 ‘Draconian’ measures floated• 1991 “Tolling the East River Bridges”• 2002 Congestion Pricing listed in Mayor’s Budget• 2007 Mayor Bloomberg’s 2030

Current Dysfunctional Pricing Scheme

$9

$9

$9$9

$6

$6

$6

$6

$6

$4.50

$4.50

$9

$4.50

$9

FREE!

FREE!

FREE!FREE!

CBD

Current Round-trip Cash Rates

More Dysfunction4 Agencies control traffic: PA, TBTA, NYC & NYS DOT’s

Queensboro FREE!

Queens Midtown $9

Williamsburg FREE!

Manhattan FREE!Brooklyn FREE!

Brooklyn Battery $9

Holland $6

Lincoln $6

Wes

t Si d

e H

ighw

ay

FDR

Driv

eFinancialDistrict

Midtown

Cen

tral

Par

k

New Jersey “Trucker’s Special!”

Take Manhattan BridgeSave $58 and have fun!

Tour Chinatown, Tribeca, and Little Italy via Canal St.

(While supplies last)

Even More Dysfunction!The Verrazano Bridge Boondoggle

FREE!

FREE!

$58

Wipe the Slate Clean

$9

$9

$9$9

$6

$6

$6

$6

$6

$4.50

$4.50

$9

$4

$9

FREE!

FREE!

FREE!FREE!

CBD

Apply Congestion Pricing.. Where there’s serious congestion and where there are transit options (i.e. choice riders)

Choice Riders

FREE!FREE!FREE!

FREE!

FREE!FREE!

$ $

FREE!

$$

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$$

$

$

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CBD

The Plan• Remove tolls from every interborough crossing (except to Manhattan’s CBD)

• E-ZPass East River Bridges or Use a Geographic Pricing Scheme Based on Congestion Levels

• E-ZPass southbound avenues and highways at 60th Street, 34th Street, Canal Street, etc.

• City Residents - 33% Discount

• Thru trucks get socked - $100 !!

The Plan Continued• Widen Staten Island Expressway, twin Goethals

Bridge

• Get trucks off Brooklyn Streets; Rebuild Belt Parkway, with adjacent parks, to allow commercial vehicles

• Give city residents 5 free trips/year to use/barter (federal FAIR concept)

• Apply to transit: Reduce bus fares in subway-less neighborhoods

• Crackdown on government abuse of parking

Morning: Prices6AM – 8AM

Free Market Approach to achieve Congestion Relief Pricing Updated Quarterly

Varying Pricing by time of day, day of week, season and real-time conditions

Free Market Approach to achieve Congestion Relief

Peak Prices:8AM – 6PM

Free Market Approach to achieve Congestion Relief

Evening Prices:6PM - Midnight

Free Market Approach to achieve Congestion Relief

No Charge Overnight:Midnight – 6AM

Pricing Plan for 2015

Pricing Plan for 2015 by vehicle miles traveled and/or vehicle hours traveled and/or vehicles hours parked.

Congestion Pricing is Here

$15 $19

$21

$20

$10

$12

$8

Somehow, we accept Congestion Pricing

when cars are parked but not when they are moving

$38

$51

• ~ 95% of drivers who generate parking revenue will be unaffected by congestion pricing

• Smart Growth policy will increase dwelling units, and parking demand, within CP zone

• Growth in parking demand expected in outskirts of CP zone

• More pedestrian zones and BRT lanes will lead to reductions in curbside parking allowances

• More government workers seeking parking lots and garages due to tougher monitoring of government parking abuse

Est. CP Reduction Weekday Revenue Peak Period Revenue

Affected Drivers = 0.07 x 0.8 x 0.8 = 4.5%

Impacts on Parking Industry

• Background environmental conditions will be lessened meaning getting through the environmental process will be easier

• Proven benefits for retailers in London and other CP cities

• 80-90% of Manhattan shoppers already take transit or walk

• 9 out of 10 workers in CBD take transit

• Estimates show that 94% of drivers will continue to drive under CP

• Residences within the CP zone will receive a 50% reduction

Impacts on Real Estate Industry

• Cell Phones• EZ Pass• Vehicle Signature• License Plate Photography• Registration Readers• Electromagnetic Body Signals

Technologies by 2010

Where the “right” meets the “left”

A Capitalist Plan• You pay for “first-class” driving. Higher speeds, less congestion

A Socialist Plan• Money shifted from the well-to-do to the masses in transit

A New York Plan• No more charging between boroughs• City residents benefit by lower fees, cleaner air and a safer city• Walking, bicycling, and transit promoted• Continued pre-eminence as least “gas-oriented” city

Who Wins?• The rich move faster• The poor get better transit• We all win with cleaner air and better mobility

Congestion Pricing