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Changes since congestion pricing started in New York

(www.nytimes.com)
437 points Vinnl | 9 comments | 13 May 25 10:43 UTC | HN request time: 1.407s | source | bottom
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philipallstar ◴[14 May 25 14:36 UTC] No.43985073[source]▶
The increased speeds are excellent for those who can afford the toll. This is a universal benefit of toll roads for those people.
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neves ◴[14 May 25 15:10 UTC] No.43985492[source]▶
The best decision would be to completely forbid individual transport. Now the common space dedicated to streets is for who can pay extra. Forbid individual transport and create some parks and pedestrian streets.
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1. SoftTalker ◴[14 May 25 21:20 UTC] No.43989341[source]▶
Extremes rarely work out well. The people paying for the luxury are funding improvements for everyone.
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2. crote ◴[14 May 25 22:09 UTC] No.43989713[source]▶
It works really well in quite a few other cities, actually.

Car infrastructure takes up a huge amount of space and is incredibly hostile to any kind of mixed use. Having near-zero cars means there is suddenly space available for an order of magnitude more pedestrians. It's why reducing car traffic almost always results in a significant increase in revenue for local shops and restaurants - which means more taxes are being paid.

Converting all of NYC into a huge pedestrian-only zone obviously isn't going to work, but having a few pedestrianized superblocks could greatly improve the quality-of-life.

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3. mathgeek ◴[14 May 25 23:35 UTC] No.43990309[source]▶
> Converting all of NYC into a huge pedestrian-only zone obviously isn't going to work

The dreamer in me immediately asks “why not?” and while I agree it will never happen, it felt good to imagine it.

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4. reillyse ◴[15 May 25 00:33 UTC] No.43990630[source]▶
this is worth thinking about. The idea that the small toll charge actually pays for the streets it covers is flat out untrue. The citizens of the US vastly subsidize the streets and roads of the country. Just purchasing the land used for roads in Manhattan would cost a massive fortune and the people paying taxes in the US have and are paying for it. Not to mention the cost of maintaining the roads (physical infra) and policing the roads. So if NY put the land to more productive use and didn't have to maintain the roads I think they could save a lot of money.
5. 0_____0 ◴[15 May 25 00:49 UTC] No.43990724{3}[source]▶
The obvious reason is goods and equipment movement. There are places that strike a much better balance than NYC though...
6. SoftTalker ◴[15 May 25 02:18 UTC] No.43991216[source]▶
A few pedestrian streets or blocks might be worth doing, banning all private vehicles from the entire downtown probably not going to happen or be well received if tried.
7. chongli ◴[15 May 25 03:08 UTC] No.43991441{3}[source]▶
How do you get all the food in? Manhattan is an island. Without constant food deliveries by truck it will die. This food is delivered to countless restaurants and grocery stores, not to some central warehouse, so delivery by train doesn't work.
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8. ◴[15 May 25 13:04 UTC] No.43994610{4}[source]▶
9. mathgeek ◴[15 May 25 15:46 UTC] No.43996250{4}[source]▶
While I wasn’t claiming it would work, that example is easily solved around the world already by allowing vehicles into pedestrian zones overnight.