From ABC News:
April 24, 2007— The mayor of New York City hopes a proposed tax on commuters will reduce congestion and help make the city greener, but it’s the loss of green in commuters’ wallets that has some drivers and their representatives worried.
In an ambitious speech made this weekend to mark Earth Day, Mayor Michael Bloomberg outlined 127 proposed environmental projects for the city’s transit, water and energy sectors. But the proposal that’s surely the most controversial would impose a tax on motorists when they drive through the most heavily trafficked parts of Manhattan.
Under the three-year pilot program, which is similar to projects in London, Stockholm and Singapore, motorists would be charged $8, and trucks $21, to enter Manhattan below 86th Street on weekdays during business hours.
City officials said the “congestion charge” would reduce traffic and pollution, and the money collected — an estimated $400 million in the first year — will go toward public transit projects.
“Let’s face up to the fact that our population growth is putting our city on a collision course with the environment, which itself is growing more unstable and uncertain,” Bloomberg said.
But commuters and politicians said the toll, collected electronically and without the use of tollbooths, penalizes drivers from the outer boroughs and suburbs, and ignores other measures that could reduce congestion.
Full Story: Here.
Ok. Now. I’ve been on my global warming rants before but this is the first that I’ve heard about what I’ve thought was really going on- It’s another reason to tax, and have more government control. And are we really that jaded as to think that the entire $400 million in revenue will actually go to public transportation? OMG!
What's on your mind?