The Brian Lehrer Show

No--the mayor's plan is just another way to make things easier for wealthy Manhattanites without regard to quality of life in the outer boroughs.

Yes because anything that takes more cars off the streets is fine by me. True I'm being selfish, and I don't care, and true I've never driven in my life nor ever had a license (guess where I'm from!) but so too are those drivers who just drive everywhere including a few blocks to pick up a few things at the store.

Yes, but this campaign was poorly staged. The outer borough transit riders need concrete benefits as offsets to opposition who will be paying more for driving. The outer borough residents are unimpressed by slogans about cleaner air and less vehicle congestion in Manhattan. Outer borough suggestions: GPS on buses so we can call a number to determine when a specific bus is estimated to arrive at a specific stop. Cameras on buses to record and fine vehicles blocking bus lanes. Sensors and cameras to record speeding vehicles. Free access to Manhattan for health visits (How could they miss this one?)

Robert: The drivers who drive a few blocks to the store will still be doing so in my neighborhood. And they'll be joined by commuters cruising for parking spots. Why not look for solutions that get cars off the roads everywhere?

I have not taken a hard position either way. I support the idea of fewer cars in Manhattan, but at the same time I live at the end of a subway line and don't want to see my neighborhood turned into a cruising zone and parking lot. I also don't know for sure if they intend to charge for the "resident permits" that have been touted. I don't trust that the funds will truly be used to improve mass transit out where I am and I think this might just put the air polution in some of the most challenged neighborhoods such as the South Bronx, which already has some of the highest asthma rates in the nation.

YES. Every time I walk by the Gov't buildings in Downtown Brooklyn and see all the Prius' I think we've wasted the past 20 years getting to "green". American cars should be the go-to green car. But the Japanese got in early and dominated.

Congestion pricing represents a long overdue change in attitude. Green = green. Don't get left behind America, don't be afraid of the future.

And what can be said about the MTA. It is the worst subway in the world. It's a total joke. Worthless subway run by worthless incompetent people. Hopefully more money can fix it, but I'm not holding my breath.

Congestion pricing for the sake of taking cars off the road is definitely a good thing. However, THIS city's congestion pricing plan has not proposed anything realistic in terms of accomplishing that. Once you read between the lines, it's clear that logistics have not been thought out! New yorkers are smart people, and the latest proposals that I've heard (possibly outdated, as of early 2008) have too many loop holes.

Yes - this is a change for me. I used to feel that Cogestion pricing would be little more then a regressive tax placed on outter borough drivers, but i support the effort to reduce manhattan street traffic, especially if the costs fund public transit. I would like the pricing to have a greater inpact on New Jersey drivers but it looks like they would be excluded form a large part of the fee because of Port Authority bridsge/tunnle tolls.

Yes.

YES!

Less pollution, please.

YES! Even if it is flawed, we have to start working on this -- and in a city this size, someone will always get the short end of the stick.

Yes - anything that reduces traffic, saves energy, and reduces pollution in the city. And Raine - many Manhattanites are barely hanging on.

Brooklyn and Queens are on Long Island. Congestion pricing effectively puts daytime tolls on the East River Bridges. Therefore a trip to the mainland USA would no longer be possible without A toll. Nice trick. Trust the MTA and the Mayor with mass transit. They supported a 2nd Ave subway doesn't go to the Bronx, a Monorail to nowhere? Mass transit first, then close other options. Taxis and trucks are the real problem anyway.

I support the plan, but I think it's backwards. Cars should pay MORE than commercial vehicles.

Yes, IF the capacity and efficiency of the subway system is increased to bear the number of people who will stop driving and start taking the train.

Yes, I heartily support the congestion pricing proposal. This would be a win for us all: it would mean increased revenue for our public transportation system (at a time when traditional revenue sources like taxes upon Wall Street profits are dwindling); it would mean that we'd breathe healthier air; and it would mean safer streets -- particularly for people like me who have to try to get around mid-town Manhattan for work.

I do favor congestion pricing, but with two caveats. If the mayor is truly serious about reducing traffic on our roads then congestion pricing must be done concurrently with a residential permit parking scheme. I would also like to see a reduction in the pricing policy for NYC residents.

Yes -- but only if Manhattan residents with Manhattan registered cars get a break like we do on taxes for monthly garage parking.

Yes, if they keep the FDR drive free and no charge for taxi & livery cars since they have to go in and out all the time.

Yes if…

They improve/increase mass transit options from New Jersey to NYC. If everyone stops driving i don't know how I'm going to be able to commute because already I never get a seat on the bus as it is. The public transporation from NJ to NYC is ridiculous, and they need to prove that they will spend the money earned from conjestion pricing to help interstate transportation and not just mass transit in NY.

While in theory, I agree with the concept, it is clear that politically it will work out protecting the people who live and Manhattan and pricy brownstone Brooklyn but parking will spill over into less affluent neighborhoods. We all know that the promised improvements to mass transit will not happen.

Yes, IF...

...the city institutes zoned parking permits like they have in Washington, DC. Otherwise, what's to keep long-distance commuters from driving to Brooklyn, Queens, or the Bronx, parking, and riding a train from there?

I favor congestion pricing BUT certain elements to Bloomberg's plan must be changed:

see generally:

http://citystreets.org/congestion.html?gclid=CNzNyv_7m5ICFR0yFQodhUzG-w

Set zone as entire island of manhattan (makes sense as a practical matter); no exemptions (fairness); more disincentive for large trucks; more dedicated bike / walk thoroughfares.

Yes. We have to start the program in whatever form sooner than later, and if there are details to be worked out, they can evolve as the program does in coming years. The idea is great, and it needs to be tried, especially before the proposal is chopped up and reduced to the point of no chance for success.

We oppose this plan because as reverse commuters we must drive to work in Jersey and Westchester. We greatly resent the prospect of having to pay a fee designed to discourage suburban traffic when we have no choice. No provision that I am aware of is being made for those of us who use cars and live in the zone.

(FYI--We only own a car because one of us has not been able to get full-time employment in the city and must therefore patch together several part-time jobs outside the city.)

Yes! We could finally get that money that we lost in the abolition of the commuter tax.

Funny thing though, I find the folks that would most benefit; that don't have any current options are so opposed.. i.e. fresh meadows, and their ilk...

YES! As both an asthmatic and a teacher, I COMPLETELY support anything that keeps the roads and air clearer, and that keeps some of the insane drivers away from the intersections where students are trying to cross. Too many kids in this city suffer from asthma and ADD, and pollutants don't improve their lives.

Although the notion seems like a good thing, the ORDER is completely wrong.

FIRST improve mass transit. Despite all of the fare hikes, the stations are abysmal, the cars filthy, and service interruptions are frequent and maddening. First take care of those critical problems so more people can embrace taking mass transit and then introduce this program. MONEY is all they ever talk about, but once the officials get it, we don't know how it will be allocated. Most of us just don't trust it.

No. The city is being disingenuous regarding why they are instituting congestion pricing. They claim it will reduce congestion (maybe it will, maybe it won't). It will certainly raise money, though, by penalizing many people. If the city really wanted to reduce congestion, there are better ways to do it including: a) truly penalizing double parking, b) preventing trucks from driving the city streets during rush hours, c) having designated taxi stands so that cabs aren't swerving around and wreaking traffic havoc, d) improving traffic flow (this would also reduce gasoline consumption so that people aren't wasting fuel while idling), e) increasing awareness of and promoting alternative modes of transportation including bicycles, etc., etc., etc. This is a blatant tax and true traffic planning isn't even being promoted.

Yes, yes, yes. Let's begin, and make adjustments if necessary.

YES

weren't they going to just try this out in the first place to find out what should qualify this

I was in London for a week recently. The traffic congestion was far worse than the worst traffic jams I have expereinced in NY. My British acquaintences said peop[e have just accepted the cost and use their cars anyway.

In addition, I would be hard pressed to have dinner out before an evening performance at the theatre if I had to adde a fee to my meal.

It may have a profound effect on threatre district restaurants.

Yes, I support congestion pricing...BUT more needs to be discussed. I definitely support resident parking permits - we had them when I lived in Boston, and it worked fine. How many people from NJ need to drive their SUV's into the city during the day to go shopping? Take the PATH! Also, more attention needs to be paid to creating secure bike lanes.

IF: NY transit has IN PLACE sufficient mass transit (which in this case means more buses, possibly new routes, from the outer boroughs AND shorter head-ways on many of the subways at rush hour. London had this figured out and the entire operation was placed under the management control of the London mass transit system.

NYC would need a czar with authority to compel both City and State agencies to meet their responsibilities.

or how about serious bike lanes and rollerblade lanes?

I work in Long Island City NY and live in NJ and I use public transprotation. The congestion pricing is long overdue and it will make us rethink going into the city on weekends and if so how we do it.

For those New Yorker's complainging that it is not fair because there will be a net zero increase for commuters coming in from NJ, are they willing to credit us back the higher tolls we have been paying up until this goes through and then start even? Put up or shut up NY.

No, because it is too expensive. The city or state should be giving money to the MTA. This will only contribute to NYC becoming either you are a millionaire or on welfare, no more middle class. Stop squeezing us!

YES

Without a doubt. Public transport desperately needs money, and this seems the best way to get it.

Yes, if:

1. Adequate parking garages are provided at toll points so that uptown doesn't turn into a competition for parking or a parking lot;

2. Monthly passes are sold, ala Metro North, so that people who need to drive into the City each day -- like my husband, a general contractor who needs to drive his van in for work -- will still be able to make a living;

3. All Manhattan residents get free passes.

remember MBTE, we poisoned the nations groundwater trying to oxygenate fuels when changing technology(fuel injection) made it simply a fuel wasting scheme. Technology is changing as we speak. Why can paying money grant unlimited access. Rationing or higher parking fees seem fair. Clean up filthy mass transit.

I don't buy into the "poor commuter" baloney. If you are really that poor, sell your car, between insurance and maintenance, cars in NYC are one of the most expensive things you can own. If money is an issue, use mass transit.

No. Let's try getting rid of rampant double and triple parking, single and double lane closings for construction that are not even used for anything and all the structural causes of congestion. We should also mandate that all commercial deliveries be made at night. See how that works first.

No.

Congestion pricing would be a fine idea IF the benefits were shared by all of the citizens of New York. As Bronx resident who rarely drives into mid-Manhattan, but commutes by car to Harlem, I know this plan will have a negative effect on me and my borough.

The implementation of this "plan" will be beholden to the interests of wealthy Manhattan residents and the promised increased service in mass transit will never survive the state legislature bureaucracies of the MTA and Port Authority. If time is money, then the time of outer borough residents is being extraordinarily undervalued so the wealthy can have a little more convenience access to taxis. Thanks A LOT!

Once again, people who are not already rich will, be the ones to bear the true burden of the effort.

I live within the zone, LES. I would support some form of congestion pricing if it had:

a - provision for residents of the zone to come and go without paying anything

b - provision for non-residents to NOT be allowed to have free street parking within the zone, at all, any time.

c - there were additional bus lines serving crosstown routes

d - the 2nd ave. subway construction didn't favor the rich upper east side

We in-zone residents are already paying premium prices for everything in our lives, everywhere in the zone.

Also, re: commuters cruising for parking spots, this might be a great way to convince the "wealthy" Manhattan people (most of whom already pay for parking off-street, I thought) to get rid of the cars that they "need" so much. Use a car share, or park it out of town. NYers already breathe trashy air, they don't need to be fatter because they drive to the grocery store.

YES, BUT.

I favor congestion parking, but only if measures are taken PRIOR to implementing the plan to ensure ample parking for residents and for commuters. The plan needs to account for increased future need for parking and should be coordinated with regional transportation facilities planning throughout the metropolitan region.

Yes. We have to start somewhere to come up with a solution about the traffic in Manhattan and the rest of NYC. It's only going to get worse so we'll have to do something sooner or later. We must focus on expanding and upgrading existing mass transit so it will be an available and affordable alternative to driving a car. Finally, look at the conversation just proposing the idea has generated. That in itself has been a good thing.

OK, so why not get some of that high-tech face recognition technology that we (supposedly) have in place to pick terrorists out of crowds, and use it to scan the number of faces in cars coming into NYC? Don't be paranoid, we don't want to know who you are, we just want to know how many you are.

I support congestion pricing - anything to alleviate traffic in midtown. And I don't know of the numbers, but I would venture to guess there are not a huge number of people who commute by car to mid- or downtown.

Yes, if more local buses are added to schedule that connect outer boroughs to subway. My bus runs once an hour after 7:45 PM and stops running at 10:45 which forces me to take my car into Manhattan any time I come home late. I do not need more LIRR or Express Bus service, I still have to take a local bus. I will also need a local parking permit so I can continue to park in my neighborhood, Maspeth, Queens. I love how much congestion pricing has improved London.

YES!!! Wake up! Reduce emissions as much as possible. Drivers who refuse to take mass transit and are poisining the air we breathe need to pay. As much as possible. Make us green!

No.

Yes if...

... mass transit actually improves their service. It has to START with mass transit improving service and running more frequently. We should not be expected to pay more and still have lousy infrequent service.

James, #6.

NYC has the very BEST subway system in the world. It runs 24/7. It's the most complicated system I've ever seen. It's not new like Shanghai, for example, with air-conditioning on the platforms and such, but considering its age and the complexity of the system, it's wonderful. But it does need improvements, of course.

YES! London has made this work brilliantly. I have lived in NYC for 10 years. During this time, London has doubled the number of buses, created a new train terminal and hugely improved mass transit. NYC has done practically nothing!

No -- Triple taxes for some New Yorkers? We live in Manhattan above the congestion pricing zone and use our car for work. We already pay property tax and income taxes to NYC. Now we also have to pay more taxes to live and work in New York?

YES because it's a look towards the future, even at some pain now.... now responses to

1) price: Want to live outside of Manhattan to save money? Fine. The extra price to _drive_ to the city is reasonable because you've already accepted the expense by home location.

2) volume: This is a 'congestion' plan to solve future volume and traffic problems. To those wishing to drive in non-carpool situations, please concede that a single car with a single person will not persist as a possibility.

3) commute time: Again, please try to be reasonable: living in Manhattan, it takes longer for me to get work than friends in Queens. If you need more time to commute, leave earlier or work with your employer for more flexible schedules.

4) budget allocation: This is an unfortunate requirement needed to sustain the behemoth that is the MTA/state/city civil infrastructure of the city. If money doesn't come from here, would you rather loose more of your paycheck to your NYC city tax?

Great job Brian; as a student at CU, I will stream (and contribute to) WNYC for life.

Yes, it worked in London and it will work here. It will promote the use or carpooling and mass transit, ease traffic and pollution. Maybe even fewer MTA fare hikes in the future.

Yes. Absolutely. We need fewer cars clogging up Manhattan, increasing pollution levels and worsening traffic snarl-ups. We need better, cheaper (I would actually advocate free, or a nominal charge) public transportation. This is a walking, living, vital, breathing city. Mass transit is the only sensible way to get around (along with feet and the occasional taxi). The Congestion Charge has worked really well in London (a much harder city to regulate).

I have an awkward commute from Middle Village to Weehawken so although in principal I agree with the idea of congestion, I will get hit. It takes me half the time to get to work via car than it does via public transportation but its considerably more expensive of course. The only question I have is, before this plan, what was the formula for federal and state funding before this plan and how come now funding is tied to this plan?

I appreciate that the mayor feels that he has his finger on the pulse of mass transit because he takes a car to an express train everyday for a few stops but I would like to ask him to ride my commute in the morning. I take the B train from Newkirk Ave in Brooklyn, if I am not on the train before 7am I will not get a seat until 42 Street. I live 4 stops from the end of the line at 7 in the morning I should not need a show horn to get in the car. As far as I know there are no plans right now to help the B line. All the lines that work is suppose to start on (1 and F lines) are lines that are crowded in the city only. And frankly people with more money take.

NO.

I left Manhattan because the RICH folks came in and turned it into an island prentending not to be Upper East Siders. The gentrification diluted the island. Still does. Why reward them with congesting pricing costing the rest of us MORE who created the ONCE culturally diverse island of Manhattan. Although I like Mayor Bloomy, this is not, in my novice opinion, going to help our budget on iota!

I say, if you want to own a car in MANHATTAN, you should have to TAX them, not us guys in Queens. If they drive ANYWHERE in the city, they should have to pay the 8 bucks or whatever. NO ONE IN MANHATTAN NEEDS A CAR. NO ONE WHO CAN AFFORD TO LIVE IN MANHATTAN CAN AFFORD THE A HIGHER TAX.

That's fair. Don't tax us little guys more!

thanks, joey collins Jackson Heights, Queens

YES! I have a car that I use to get out of town on the weekends. For travel in NYC, it's all about walking, cycling, and mass transit. I don't care how limited the version they pass is. If it's anything like Stockholm or London, we just need to get it in effect, then we can expand it.

Yes IF...

transit is modernized and expanded! It is already overloaded.

We need innovation in transit, not just the 2nd Ave Subway, but Bus Rapid Transit, More elevated and surface Light Rail.

Also - strategies to reduce traffic at peak hours, incentives for businesses to change working hours. Trucks off the streets during the daytime... lots of ways to solve the traffic problem.

Yes, but:

I live in Chelsea, and I have a car which I only use to leave the city. Will I pay this tax to drive from West 26th Street to the Lincoln Tunnel? If I drive from the Lincoln Tunnel to my garage on West 26th and Ninth...

Yes, if commercial vehicles are not charged. As the plan stands now, commercial vehicles will be charged the same or more than other vehicles. The point of congestion pricing is to get commuters off already clogged roads in downtown Manhattan, not punish the commercial deliveries that keep Manhattan businesses going.

Yes!

During the Republican National Convention, traffic was 1/2 of what it normally is and it was incredibly easy and safe to bike around the city!

what about deliveries? Will this raise food prices?

Yes. Please pass this. It would be a TRAGEDY to loose this opportunity.

CONGESTION PRICING, YES IF...

As a long time east village resident with a car that I must leave on the street (can't afford a garage), I want to be certain that I will not be hit with an $8 charge when I have to move the car for alternate side.

Not everyone can afford a garage and I should not be penalized for that.

No. With public transportation as bad as it is and the need to commute to areas in New York City that are difficult to get to without a car, it is just another expense on top of the tolls and gas that a commuter pays for. Having been displaced from Brooklyn, because Bloomberg was intent on developing the waterfront property in Greenpoint and Williamsburg, I feel that he is only interested in creating an island for the rich regardless of how it effects working class and middle class people.

When will the media cover Congestion Pricing as it really is: another utopian social experiment pushed by the elitist Bloomberg, without any input from the people it would most affect. "Hey, it works in Europe!" is all this Nanny Mayor need here in oprder to ram an impractical Punitive Tax down New Yorkers throats.

After the West Side Stadium, and the Olympics, you'd think the Mayor would have gotten the picture that you CANNOT implement radical changes that dramatically impact your constituents WITHOUT ANY INPUT from their elected representatives!

Bloomberg's phony "deadlines" won't work this time either!

Let's be clear: this is not a proposal designed first to cut pollution, it's a plan designed by a Manhattan-centric Mayor designed to reduce the number of cars in that borough,that may also have the benefit of cutting smog. The goal, however is to reduce the number of people from driving into Manhattan first- an inherently elitist proposal.

Yes. I live out in Queens, and I don't understand how you can say this will hurt the middle class. How can one be middle class and even afford a car and all the costs that come with it? Cars should be considered a luxury in this city.

However, I thinking the parking situation in the outer boroughs needs to be addressed. It seems that London has better solutions for that.

Yes, if the MTA keeps its monthly prices low so that people are more likely to use it. There needs to be a dramatic increase in mass transit.

No, NYC has enough taxes, take the money out of useless programs. (ps. I dont even drive!)

Clearly we need less cars in Manhattan.But what can be offered to those of us who live near the Palisades Parkway and commute in, and drive home after our shows at Lincoln Center or Broadway? There is no fast, convenient, public transportation for this segment of commuters, for the hours that we work.

Yes, BUT......

I support the idea of congestion pricing if considerations are made to residents in outer borough neighborhoods which will be affected by commuters driving in and parking and clogging the subways during already maxed out commuting ours. I've lived in this neighborhood for over 11 years and in the last 3 years, w/ gentrification, parking has become a problem. There are no alternatives, such as parking garages, and I've spent many mornings driving around for 1 1/2 hours until alternative side of the street parking ends. ALSO, the Bedford L train and Long Island City E/V trains are beyond maximum capacity. Frequently, I have had to wait for 7 or 8 trains to come before being able to get on board. My understanding is that the MTA already has as many trains on these lines. With the new apartment buildings going up in Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and LIC, I don't know how all of these people will be able to commute efficiently, along with the people commuting in, parking and using the subway to get into the city.

No No No

Slamming the poor that's all this is.

I'm tired of Bloomberg making this HIS city where there are no cars on the street and building out of control so cranes fall on people and kill them.

This is poorly planned and will be pooly executed.

It certainly once again favors rich people who drive in. People from the suburbs will certainly try to park right now in areas in which we live as they do now. I live in Manhattan and have a car only because I need it outside of NY and have a license plate from another state because I have a house there and drive there, not in NYC. I can see a lot of difficulty ahead for me with this and it is plenty difficult already.

How would they stop people from parking in the neighborhood who are coming in from elsewhere? Boston and Cambridge have residence parking. Do we get residence parking with our rent checks?

yes, with safer (curbs provided) bike lanes.

No. If an 18% parking tax doesn't dissuade unnecessary traffic, the congestion pricing plan won't either. It will also involve an extremely expensive administrative organization to enforce. A better fun raiser would be an increase in the gasoline tax.

NO< NO< NO< NO!

For so many reasons:

It's completely unfair to make the people who live in Brooklyn and Queens pay the for a transit system. You mena he's not making enough money off of the out of control developers to pay for it?

When prices are going up on all kinds of things, you're going to make it more expensive to come into New York?

This is New York City. It's supposed to be messy. Bloomberg never understood this. He can't make it NYC a borg-like society where the poor and working class people mindlessly accept the subway and the Bloombergs keep us all in line. No Olympics, no West Side stadium , no congestion pricing.

I vote no, the odds of the money not going to the general fund over time is 100%. Also, the cost of maintaining the system will eat up the revenue.

Dear Speaker Quinn,

Help!

Congestion pricing, as it's now structured, discriminates between favored

Manhattan neighborhoods and those not so favored. I live in the far West

Village, your district, in a middle income community of working people and our

families. We can't afford to pay for the privilege of going from our homes to our

jobs. I'm a teacher in upstate New York. I have no other way to get to work,

but to drive.

At the same time, I notice that residential neighborhoods between 60th

Street and 86th Street have miraculously been exempted from the proposed fee.

Even our Mr. Mayor will be exempt, as his mansion(s!) are on 78th Street. Is a

fee too burdensome for the Park Avenue crowd a reasonable fee for teachers?

If congestion pricing is to work, it has to be fair, and not prevent free

access to and from working people's homes. The boundaries need to be

revised, or access permits issued to residents of commercial zones. It's trucks,

taxi's, and commuters who clog mid town, not the few working people.

Please let the new governor know that the current plan discriminates

against working New Yorkers!!

What do we get, resident cards with our rent checks if we are not really rich people in Manhattan, on the upper west side?

NO!!!! If you live in Manhattan, you get a raw deal, and if you want to go to Brooklyn, you have to pay $8.00 to drive down the West Side Highway or the FDR Drive. Everything is more expensive for City Residents, and getting higher. The problem is that city residents are footing the bill for EVERYTHING since they got rid of the commuter tax. 8 million people are paying for 25 million riders. It is completely unfair, and then for New Jersey drivers get a credit for the toll that they pay for crossing the bridges and tunnels - while Manhattan residents get no breaks. Arrgh . . . this is the flip side of having a Billionaire for a Mayor. He has absolutely no consciousness of the middle class and the cost that residents are paying to live here. I have lived in Manhttan for my entire life, and I see it becoming an oasis for the super-wealthy and a complete disregard for the working class.

Just a thought,

Rich ladies driving their Escalades will still drive into Barneys and thank congestion pricing for an easier traffic for them.....

Maybe we should move into a system like this for PRIVATE cars only:

Plates that end with

1 & 2 MON

3 & 4 TUE

5 & 6 WED

7 & 8 THU

9 & 0 FRI

For letters, just separate them in groups.

That is a very democratic way, since everyone one will have to obey, not only the ones that can pay, or can afford

I don't think Congestion Pricing would ease traffic. Even though I cannot afford it, I would just pay it, as most would. It's a plan to make money, not about traffic planning. The streets are clogged with way too many taxis, that's what causes most of the traffic. People blame those driving in to the city for the traffic, meanwhile, those who live there are using taxis instead of subways to get around. Taxis should be forced to pull over when receiving or discharging passengers. They usually stop in the middle of traffic blocking lanes, this has a huge effect on traffic flow.

Yes, absolutely.

What about resident stickers with our rent payment if we are not rich people but live in Manhattan, on the upper west side?

No. so many problems. By it's own figures it would have little effect on reducing congestion. It's a huge revenue generating scheme with no earmarks requiring money be spent improving public transportation. It’s hugely regressive against middle and lower class workers, the elderly and disabled, who live in the boroughs and suburbs. These are public roads that are already paid for by tax payers, all this plan will do is let the wealthy drive around faster, a privatization of a public resource. If implemented, subways and buses would be unable to handle the increased ridership - they are already over capacity. I might be in favor of some plan if they created new infrastructure first. What happened to the new dedicated Bus Rapid Transit promised for the M15 line by 2008? If this plan is actually necessary for revenue, then that will backfire, because if the plan works it will have constantly DECREASING levels of revenue as people switch to mass transit. It's not a sustainable source of revenue. The cost of implementing the plan with cameras will eat into the revenue generated by it so much that the plan will be unworkable unless the price is raised to almost $20 (as happened in London.)If the city were truly and actually interested in reducing "congestion" then they should just do more to enforce the "block the box" laws, by adding more police, and cameras. If the MTA instructed bus drivers to never enter an intersection during a red light it’d cut traffic 50% easy.

YES to Congestion Pricing!

I moved to New York so I wouldn't have to even own a car. I've been a bicycle commuter for years and it's the most pleasant way to get around the city.

I arrive at work relaxed and get to work out my day on the way home. The Greenway is wonderful and should be expanded.

Ask anyone who has spent time in cities like Copenhagen, London, Amsterdam or Paris. They are calm and full of people walking around. It is so pleasant.

There's no reason to not have some of it here.

no. Because it doesn't address air pollution in the outer borughs.Such as hunt's piont and south jamaica which has the highest rate of asthma in da city.

I do NOT support congestion pricing.

No, they could never get it straight to give out residence cards with the rent paid on the upper west side, for example; there would be a business in selling residence cards and rich people would park in our neighborhoods as they do now, with impugnity, as they come in from the suburbs.

yes if

MOTORCYCLES and efficient/alternative vehicles are FREE to enter and HAVE designated free parking areas. No lame tolls for motorcycles!

and.. my general comment:

well seems a bit unfair to those of us who can't afford to live in manhattan. Excluding jersey and scarsdale... why does this end up being a poor tax on the outer bouroughs?

I only drive in/thru manhattan in OFF PEAK times. I don't WANT to get stuck in traffic and frankly downtown is empty lots of nights of the week and thats when I do my business.

So why nail me? Its the commuters who think its fine to wait in traffic for 1 hour who need to be targeted.

If the mayor was truly concerened in releiving congestion in NYC then why do are there so many 'city choking' construction projects. This mayor never met a construction project he said "no" to. Construction is so 'over the top' that oversight is taking a back seat. Crane collapses, Firemen dying in uninspected projects, building collapses, scaffolding collapses, worker accidents and deaths..... how does charging me more money to travel in my own city help address those tragedies?

YES long overdue and new york should lead the way for all major US cities. there's NO reason to drive on this island (yes that's right i SAID it!). none other than laziness when god knows we as a nation could shed some collective pounds and the impact on the environment (anyone who doesn't raise a hand up here smack yourself in the head please). those who cannot (i am referring specifically to the ederly and disabled) should have free/no fee service from the MTA. and as far as the MTA being the worse? ahem. no no no Philadelphia wears that crown thank you very much with ridiculous pricing, rude employess and no yes that's right NO ticket machines at many of the stations.

No - This mayor is taxing (financially and punitively) citizens with cars unfairly. To charge people $8 per car to enter is absurd - that is a lot of money. Does the mayor realize there is currently no place for people to park there cars in the boroughs during the day, with alternate side parking, and so many other regulations? What are people supposed to do with their cars? It would be necessary for the City to open up parking in neighborhoods so people could leave their cars at home or near public transportation more easily.

I take the bus to work daily. I happen to pass the mouth of the Manhattan bridge every morning. Traffic flows smoothly. Another concern with congestion pricing is that adding toll collection will slow down traffic along Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges, which move amazingly well now during rush hour.

Regards,

Jackie

Yes, if there is an exception for Manhattenites returning from jobs that end at 5PM who would have to wait until 6PM to avoid the toll when returning home.I live here in the East Village and drive to Long Island and am out of the city during the congestion period but head home at 5PM arriving at the bridge at 5:30 as with many others whose day jobs end then. I don't feel I should pay for the congestion that occurs during the day. In fact all congestion pricing should end at 5PM or 5:30 to give Broadway visitors a chance to get to shows on time and not pay for the congestion pricing at say 5:30...to support the City's important tourist trade.