On an unconnected but somewhat related note, after delays, legal challenges and years of study and debate, congestion pricing became the law in New York City this morning. The instructive piece is that it relies on a vast electronic tolling network. Something like 110 readers (mounted overhead or on roadside poles) will read the electronic (E-Z) passes of cars entering lower Manhattan Island (below 60th Street or, roughly, the area south of Central Park). If there's no valid E-Z pass, the readers will capture the licence plate via infrared cameras and plate owners will get a bill in the mail. There are a
bunch of fare classes and exemptions but the base daytime fare for a passenger automobile is $9 for cars with a pass and $13.50 for those without. There apparently are hefty fines for those caught trying to fool the scanners.
Proponents claim the scheme will reduce congestion in the affected area by 13 per cent while raising $15 billion over the first five years to be directed to the Metropolitan Transit Authority for subway, commuter rail and bus improvements.
Whether congestion pricing will achieve the intended results for NYC I cannot say. I share it just as a point of interest that the foundation of the system is a complex electronic tolling model that makes the Halifax Harbour Bridges problem seem like child's play.
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