by Gilbert B Norman
Well, subject to "eleventh hour efforts" to block the initiative, Congestion Pricing is set to take effect June 30. Very succinctly, it will cost $15 per day to drive a private auto South of 60th Street on Manhattan. The revenue raised will be allocated to the MTA and will go for capital projects (buy new cars), as distinct from operating expenses (paying the operator to run them). It is expected to generate some $1B annually:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/06/nyre ... =url-share
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Oh well, who pays cash nowadays?
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/06/nyre ... =url-share
Fair Use:
New York City’s congestion pricing program is scheduled to begin charging tolls to drive into the busiest parts of Manhattan next month, with the aim of generating a $15 billion windfall for the mass transit system.As the article notes, it's a "buy now pay later" as the plan is to float some $15B of bonds now, and pay them back with tolls collected over the next fifteen years.
That money would not translate into lower fares or a huge subway expansion. Instead, with a few notable exceptions, it would largely support the unglamorous but critical work of maintaining the century-old infrastructure that millions of New Yorkers rely on — repairing and upgrading aging equipment, modernizing signals and technology and making subway stations more accessible.
Oh well, who pays cash nowadays?