Changes since congestion pricing started in New York

The increased speeds are excellent for those who can afford the toll. This is a universal benefit of toll roads for those people.

And the investments in public transit and bike paths are excellent for those who can't. Such unalloyed win-wins are hard to find.

I lived in Manhattan, and was very well paid. I did not own a car, and loved it. This would have been great for me as well.

Did you have children or did you live alone?

As someone with children, I can not imagine the bliss of living in Manhattan and being able to do things without needing a car.

Car-centric urban planning is hell with kids. You have to load them up into the car for any small trip. You can't walk or bike anywhere because cars make it so dangerous.

My only regret about living in the US is this car hellscape that is so hard to avoid. It's mandated by law, not chosen by the market.

> As someone with children, I can not imagine the bliss of living in Manhattan and being able to do things without needing a car.

Lifting a 2 toddler stroller up and down narrow, crowded NYC subway stairs is the exact opposite of bliss. Perhaps you are unaware that many subway stations still don't have elevators (or escalators, for that matter) - only stairs. And where the elevators exist, it seems half the time they are out of order...

We bought a very fancy and expensive 2 toddler stroller when we had two toddlers and it saw almost no use because it was a hassle pretty much everywhere. I advise all new parents to avoid purchasing one until there's a proven need, and I don't know any other parents that thought it was a good idea to purchase one. I'm sure it's great for some kids, but certainly not mine or even most kids. I honestly don't understand the use case for it except for nap-time strolls around the neighborhood (and how often do they both sleep at the same time?) or maybe amusement parks when there's 3+ hours on your feet.

My twins spent several hours in their stroller (bugaboo donkey) on many days, back when they were toddlers (a lot of that time being spent having their afternoon nap in the stroller). Living in Sydney Australia. Similar car-centric problems to most US cities. But I guess we're lucky to live walking distance from parks, supermarkets, childcare centres (and now school), and a train station. And the stroller fitted folded-up in the boot (aka trunk) of our (small hatchback!) car. And our train station (and our most common destination stations) has a lift (aka elevator - Sydney has successfully been rolling out a project [1] to install lifts in more and more of its ageing train stations over the past decade). I couldn't imagine having managed, back then, without a 2-toddler stroller.

[1] https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/projects/transport-access-p...