Congestion Pricing: Legislation Can Kill This Plan Completely – But Lawsuits, Other Means Still In Works

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A Statement from Borough President Vito Fossella on the Indefinite Postponement of MTA’s Congestion Pricing Scheme

Editor’s note: BP Fossella and political allies have lawsuits pending that will make this change permanent.  In support of the lawsuit, as well as potential legislation, the Borough President released a study on how congestion pricing would increase, rather than decrease, pollution, pushing it to other boroughs such as Staten Island.  Similarly, it will disproportionately affect low income neighborhoods, particularly those on Staten Island.

Finally, the MTA’s own study on congestion pricing shows that traffic will get worse here if implemented, and when traffic increases, so does ambulance response time. When someone is in a life threatening situation, those extra moments can be critical.  

It appears that congestion pricing is on hold, for now.
From day one, we have said that congestion pricing is a three-strike loser for Staten Island and for everyone who drives into Manhattan.
Plain and simple, this is just another toll for the people of Staten Island to get into Manhattan. To make matters worse, air quality will get worse, and traffic will get worse on Staten Island.
That is why we joined forces with the UFT and other elected officials, to file a lawsuit in Federal court to prevent congestion pricing from happening.
The bottom line is that congestion pricing doesn’t work, especially for the people of Staten Island.
It is a momentary breath of relief that congestion pricing has been put on hold. However, we have to remain vigilant and vocal to continue to sound the alarm on the negative effects of congestion pricing.
We will continue to pursue our case in the courts, and we will continue to be advocates in opposition to congestion pricing wherever necessary.
Ideally, there is still a legislative fix, and we could bury congestion pricing once and for all. We are hopeful that legislators who are on the fence or support congestion pricing will reconsider and stop it from happening.
There is an old expression, “trust but verify”.
For now, we shall trust the decision, but we will see that it is verified before and after the election.
Banner Image: Traffic. Image Credit – Musa Haef

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