Great news today: despite the city missing the application deadline, the federal
government has awarded
New York City $354 million for its congestion pricing plan. Transportation
secretary Mary Peters was positively gushing at her press conference:
The average New York commuter now spends 49 hours stuck in traffic every
year, up from 18 hours in 1982. While some may be content to accept growing
gridlock as a way of life, Mayor Bloomberg is not going to let traffic rob
the Big Apple. He has stepped forward with a plan as brass and bold as New
York City itself.
The department of transportation has now explicitly said that building more
roads doesn’t reduce congestion. Let’s hope that New York’s legislature comes
around to that point of view and accepts this large gift with grace.