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Traffic Congestion Pricing
Traffic Money for N.Y. May Benefit Other Cities
By CATRIN EINHORN
Published: April 30, 2008
CHICAGO — Sometimes one city’s loss is another’s gain.
When New York’s plan to charge a fee to drivers entering parts of Manhattan collapsed this month, federal officials said they would give the money attached to the plan to other cities trying to battle traffic congestion.
Enter Los Angeles and Chicago, which have been chosen to receive a total of about $366 million from the Department of Transportation for carrot-and-stick approaches to reducing the number of cars on their streets.
Tyler D. Duvall, acting under secretary for policy for the Department of Transportation, said on Tuesday, “We’re disappointed that New York didn’t get it, but we’re extremely happy to have the opportunity to work with L.A. and Chicago.”
Both cities had submitted proposals, but they could have waited years for financing had New York — which was to be awarded about $354 million — not fallen by the wayside, Mr. Duvall said.
In Chicago, officials said Tuesday that they planned to use $153 million for projects like creating the first 10 miles of lanes dedicated to faster buses that make fewer stops and set off sensors that lengthen green traffic lights and shorten red ones. To discourage driving downtown, meters and parking lots there would charge more during peak traffic times.
In Los Angeles, which would receive $213 million, officials said high-occupancy vehicle lanes would be converted to toll lanes. Cars with three or more people would be exempt from paying. The federal money would also finance bus service in the new toll lanes.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York, through a spokesman, applauded the efforts of both cities.
“While it’s sad that Washington, which most Americans agree is completely dysfunctional, is more willing to try new approaches to long-standing problems than Albany is,” Mr. Bloomberg’s press secretary, Stu Loeser, said, “we’re glad other places aren’t as allergic to innovation.”
As in New York, though, the federal money is contingent on the cities getting the appropriate approvals. The Los Angeles plan, which is supported by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, is subject to approval by the State Legislature. In Chicago, Mayor Richard M. Daley is behind the plan, and the City Council’s imprimatur is needed.
Jay Stewart, executive director of the Better Government Association, said Council members were likely to support Mr. Daley. But, he said, a lot of Chicagoans would not.
“If you’re driving downtown regularly and you’re already paying $4 a gallon for gas,” Mr. Stewart said, “any increase in the cost of your commute is not going to go down well.”
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Revelation 21:4
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's would get to me.
Can someone remind me -- is there supposed to be another video screen there or is it going to be a regular static billboard?
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