At Passengers United, we have carefully analyzed the potential costs and benefits of congestion pricing. Our president, Charlton D'souza, served on the Environmental Justice Stakeholders Working Committee to provide insight for the congestion pricing plan. Many of the stakeholders' suggestions, including new express bus routes, bus lanes, and a low intracity commuter rail fare, were ignored by the MTA. We have concluded that the costs heavily outweigh the benefits and WE CANNOT SUPPORT THE MTA'S CONGESTION PRICING PLAN for the above and other reasons, including:
The MTA, city and state must properly address the safety crisis in the subways, expand public transit coverage and service in an equitable way, and improve accessibility and affordability throughout the transit system before even considering implementing congestion pricing.
- Much of the traffic will be diverted from the CBD into the poorer peripheral areas, including the outer boroughs and surrounding regions.
As a result, air pollution will increase in these already-disadvantaged areas. - Transit options in these poorer communities — many of which are transit deserts — fail to adequately provide a level of service to accommodate a growth in ridership that the MTA refuses to provide.
- Many disadvantaged community members who have difficulty/are unable to take public transit will be priced out of New York because they won't be able to afford this new toll.
- The benefits that the MTA, elected officials and lobbyists continue to tout in support of the plan, such as cleaner air and reduced congestion, and undermined by the findings of the MTA's own Environmental Assessment and lack of a proper Environmental Impact Study, ultimately damaging the communities and harming the commuters they claim will benefit.
- The MTA has explicitly stated that it will not increase transit service after congestion pricing goes into effect, effectively eliminating any proper benefit for commuters that would mitigate the problems caused by the plan.
The MTA, city and state must properly address the safety crisis in the subways, expand public transit coverage and service in an equitable way, and improve accessibility and affordability throughout the transit system before even considering implementing congestion pricing.
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