Posted on 01/04/2025 6:08:22 PM PST by Libloather
The MTA held a cheery celebration to unveil a new “Congestion Relief Zone” sign in Manhattan, just hours before drivers will feel the pain as the controversial toll goes into effect in the Big Apple.
The agency’s CEO Janno Lieber seemed to have no concern for the many lawsuits and pleas from commuters aiming to stop the new $9 toll, as he personally unveiled a toll sign Saturday at one of the entry points to the zone at Broadway and W. 61st St.
Video shared by the MTA on social media shows a small crowd of toll supporters and elected officials cheering Lieber as he stood in a crane and revealed the new price sign.
Despite the cheers, the celebration drew online jeers from opponents of the toll — which begins at midnight.
“How do you cheer for this,” one person commented on Instagram.
Another wrote: “Who’s celebrating bro… like who is happy to pay more ugh.”
Some found the tone of the celebration distasteful in light of the financial strain it will put on many commuters.
“We ain’t happy about this, just put the sign up and go about y’all day. No unveiling necessary,” another Instagram user wrote.
Despite the criticism, Lieber took time to boast last Saturday about the contentious plan as something that will improve safety, pollution and traffic conditions.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
“ as something that will improve safety, pollution and traffic conditions.”
It will do nine of these things.
L
Going to fix congestion by making it harder for average people to get to work, to take more money away from folks who are struggling to make ends meet. Solid move NY
Keep voting stupid New York.
They might as well start charging a daily fee to the people that live there. They use more city supplied resources than the tourists or out of towners who work there.
The same people will be commuting the same way but paying more to do it.
You wrote:
“ as something that will improve safety, pollution and traffic conditions.”
It will do nine of these things.
_____________
I have lived in cities with a “World-class” mass transit system, Hong Kong and NYC (Well across the river in Eeew Jersey). And one with “World Class” Freeways, Houston. Hong Kong and NYC, both have worse traffic and are harder to get around in, than Houston, hands down, no contest. Mass transit systems don’t seem to equate to less traffic. Neither is mass transit faster than driving or really any cheaper than driving either.
I’ve lived in cities with middling mass transit systems, “Dallas” and a terrible mass transit system in Houston, Houston is easier to drive in than Dallas.
If it weren’t for aggressive drivers in trucks the size of main battle tanks, Houston would be a breeze to drive in.
What’s the situation for NYC cabs?
Did the nation vote for the POTATUS...?
Curios what you think the relevance of that is to congestion pricing being started in NYC?
If you drive your car with Nevada plates through the Manhattan “Congestion Relief Zone” without an EZ-Pass, here’s what would typically happen:
Cameras mounted on overhead gantries or other structures will capture an image of your car’s license plate as you enter the congestion zone.
The system will cross-reference the captured license plate with vehicle registration databases to identify the registered owner. A bill for the congestion toll will be mailed to the address associated with your Nevada license plate registration.
Once you receive the bill, you’ll have the option to pay online, by phone, or by mail, depending on the instructions provided. The toll amount will likely include an administrative fee since you do not have an EZ-Pass.
If you fail to pay the bill by the specified deadline, penalties or fines could be added to the toll amount. Continued non-payment may result in further enforcement actions, such as collections or reporting to credit agencies (depending on the enforcement agreements between New York and Nevada).
New York State may have agreements with Nevada and other states to ensure compliance for out-of-state vehicles. For instance:
This will be a hostile situation for out-of-towners to navigate. We had the time and patience and found the puzzle fun. It was a vacation for the experience.
We won't do it again, there. Enjoyed the visit to places, including the 9/11 Museum, but it was likely our last time.
Isn’t it amazing that NOTHING that democrats do to increase prices and the cost of living “disproportionately affects people of color and under represented people and other marginalized groups,”
Amazing.
Next time for a real adventure fly into LaGuardia then exit at terminal C...get on the M60 SBS heading towards Manhattan with two huge expensive samsonite hard shells plus the wheeled carryon. That’s $300 each for the full size and 150 for the carry on and everyone knows how expensive those are on the mass transit system. Get off the M60 in Astoria Queens at the aptly named Astoria Blvd station. Then lug those dual 48lb cases weighed exactly to be sure they are under 50# limits. Plus the carryon up two landings of slick stairs because this is December a week before new year’s in The City of course it’s misting and raining. But there is an ADA compliant elevator at the Astoria Blvd station as listed on the MTA website...ha I have never seen that elevator running it’s always broken. That station is the easy gateway to Queen’s so it gets used for food trips on the regular.Then take the N line to midtown Manhattan shoulder to shoulder with holiday straphangers while bird dogging your luggage.... get off at 34th station where there is no elevator so lug them bad boys up again out of the underground and hump the last 3 tenths of a mile to Penn station where the hotel Penn was across the street formerly.
It will be fun they said ,it will be an adventure they said....
Only did mass transit into The City that one time because the contract ride I had booked canceled as I was getting my luggage and uber was surge pricing and an hour wait so the Google showed a 51 min trip via one bus from the terminal to the metro system and a 5 min walk to the hotel Penn. Adventure to say the least. On the way back it was uber black to the terminal for $125 and worth every penny.
“Mass transit systems don’t seem to equate to less traffic. Neither is mass transit faster than driving or really any cheaper than driving either.”
I too have lived in NYC while at University worked as a line chef in midtown as well. I have friends who are now family in Bushwick and spend weeks at a time in the city still.
From LaGuardia to SOHO via car took 2.5 hours from a 2 pm airport pick up and cost $11 bucks just in tolls to take the RFK back on the island.Then $75 parking no in and outs per 24 hour spot. While staying in SOHO for a couple days over the 9/11 anniversary in 2023. A 7 day unlimited metro pass is $34 for unlimited rides and transfers bus/metro. You can get from the SOHO Grand to LaGuardia in 52 minutes and $2.90 if you don’t have a $7 Metropass via the N line and the M60 SBS. No comparisons in cost or time transit is both cheaper and significantly faster im time.
I also work out of the energy corridor in Houston, I take my Tesla with FSD from Big D at least 8 times per year to Houston for clients, continuing Ed, and training. Houston motorways are traffic nightmares at any time other than the middle of the night. This is why the FSD gets taken it will follow the car in front faithfully stop and go stop and go stop and go inch my mind numbing inch. Only the toll lanes down 10 make it remotely acceptable to drive during any time from 530 am till 830 pm the “freelanes” a reale parking lots then. Houston is also a not zoned nightmare of suburban sprawl it’s the literal textbook definition of suburban sprawl Houston is used as the example in nearly every urban planning textbook of what not to do. You couldn’t build out a worse example of sprawl if you tried.
Hong KOng, Houston and London are the biggest cities with no zoning.
Hong KOng, Houston and London are the biggest cities with no zoning.
London at least kinda makes sense and they have a functional underground and transit system. The ring of greenbelts is nice too. That said London CBD traffic before the congestion charges was SOOOOO much worse than it is recently. London is proof positive that congestion charges work. Houston is flat hot and nasty in every way. A pox on that city I wouldn’t every go if it was not the energy capital of north America. Even with the a nearly fully self driving Tesla the traffic is mind numbing.
As you also found out, it is, but not a pleasant time. It took a while! We stayed at a high-end hotel a block off Times Square. Came in from New Jersey, left out JFK.
Yeah, Uber would be our next choice. Public transit works in NYC, but there is a level of hassle when unfamiliar with its specifics.
Had I not had heavy luggage the M60 from terminal C to the metro station and a .3 mile wall would have been easy peasy. The bus picked you up on the curb at the exit of the terminal and dropped you feet from the stairs up to the metro platform and the N line got me directly to midtown Manhattan and a five min easy walk to the hotel Penn had I not been lugging two 48# cases with three weeks of cloths in them.
I stayed in NYC for a week then went to Atlantic City/Philly for a week via Penn station and the ACELA line to Philly and the ACRL back and forth too Philly. Penn station has working elevators and checked luggage a much better way to train travel. I wish America had high speed rail like Europe and Japan and China so much better for under 500 miles than flying.
Philly also has metro train service from downtown subway with elevators directly to the Philly airport check in, brilliant.
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