PING.
Abolishing the organized criminal organizations known as “labor unions” could solve it in a hurry.
Problem with “congestion pricing” is it acts like people are choosing to all be in town at the same time. “Curse all these people working normal work hours!” All you do is punish people with less flexible work schedules, who are also probably lower waged.
A tax on working stiffs
More jobs? More people working? More traffic congestion?
Trump’s Fault!
Gee. The roads were pristine and easy to navigate when 0bama was pres__ent!
*SMIRK*
“I see you have some money there. Give it to me.”
Start taxing the plug in electrics. Most of the road infrastructure is funded by gasoline taxes (or debt). Make the electrics pay a fair share.
How inspired?
Clearly a visit to Londonistan!
Thanks Tol,
Personally, I’d rather build the lane capacity and let people drive when they want, rather than having the state strongly ‘encourage’ people as to when they SHOULD be driving.
But maybe that’s because I won’t be on the receiving end of the HUGE amount of revenue schemes like this can generate for our government masters.
Let’s try it out on Florida this weekend.
Raise the tolls on people fleeing the hurricane.
/Evil Mode off.
Bump
Get rid of all the illegal aliens and the traffic problem nearly disappears. The illegals went on strike here for a day to show their impact. Except everything got better. Less traffic. More parking. Less accidents. And the food was better.
Well, since tax dollars go to gov employees with lavish benefits (even if the paycheck is low), I guess there’s no other choice.
OK, Democrats and mushy middle people, here’s a lesson in economics with government intervention.
That’s called creating perverse incentive, a profit motive.
Let’s assume you accept “congestion pricing.” You’ll be told that the money will be used for “infrastructure,” purportedly to improve the congestion.
Do you really believe that? If so, why?
It’ll be used to create an entire “congestion” bureaucracy filled with protected class unproductive employees and you’ll never get rid of them.
And the roads will just get more and more congested, because you’re rewarding the government for creating them.
Sounds simple enough to me to grasp this reality. But, Democrats and independents fall for it every time.
Even a few Republicans do.
I prefer the old fashioned way of using tax money properly.
Certainly anti-housing legal environment and politics contribute to this. California is way under-built, i.e., has a desperate general housing shortage after @ 25 years of such behavior.
But creation of housing far away from where new jobs are being created is the real cause of transportation gridlock. Whole new communities with light industry are needed, and that just isn't happening.
how about, congestion limiting, instead?
Wouldn’t congestion pricing increase congestion? Drawing those employers who can perk their employees’ fees while shutting out the little guys employees, with the side effect of even more government congestion. City govts that have enough employees to populate a medium town is never a good thing for the taxpayer. Put a cap on it. This is the size of our town/city and what our taxpayers can afford and tolerate; and you’ll have to locate your business/retail centers outside in the ‘burbs or the next town over. Just like any residential planned community.
The problem is really (a) the real estate industry and (b) the corporate world and (c) the political class which jointly all prefer job development to keep pilling up more people where there are already more people, instead of where population density is lower.