A couple of weeks ago I posted on congestion pricing in Tehran, and how it will open doors to cities looking to implement the technology. Now I turn back to look domestically, where congestion pricing has yet to be implemented as a cordon system, such as that seen in Singapore, London, Stockholm, and Tehran. Just like Tehran will open doors to other developing cities to consider congestion pricing, New York could do the same for other U.S. cities.
The U.S. has seen efforts in San Francisco and New York for congestion pricing, but neither have materialized. New York tried first in in 2007 and again in 2008 to push a plan for congestion pricing, but both times the plan failed to gain approval. Three years later, it appears the idea is back on the table for New York. As described by the Daily News, “a coalition of influential interest groups” are looking to get the discussion going again in Albany. The plan is just in its draft phase now, but for the discussion to be starting again, just three years after being voted down by the New York State Assembly, indicates that there is a positive outlook that opinions in Albany could have changed in that time.
A city doesn’t get more suitable for congestion pricing than New York. Natural boundaries and an easily understandable grid system combine to make it a perfect case, if the government and populace will buy into it. Manhattan’s natural boundaries and limited entry points on three sides (Hudson River, East River, and the Upper New York Bay) make it very easy to cordon off the city streets. On the fourth side there is a very identifiable northern boundary – very likely 60th Street. The network begs for a cordon!
With a variety of modes to enter the city besides a car (commuter rail, bus, subway, ferry, biking), New York is America’s best candidate for congestion pricing. When there different options to avoid the congestion charge, residents and visitors are not forced into paying. To get a proposal over the hump in Albany, however, tough decisions need to be made. The East River crossings were exempted from tolls in the 2008 proposal, but these are critical inlets into the city that cannot go untolled. There have been separate proposals in the past, apart from congestion pricing, to toll the East River crossing, and they always fall flat. Creating a seamless cordon will be critical to a proposal’s success.
For congestion pricing to ever make it to U.S. soil, New York will need to be the one to do it first. High motorization rates and transit systems with low coverages make a typical U.S. city a tough candidate for charging tolls along a cordon. The decentralization of businesses to the suburbs means there is less gravitational pull to the center city that could withstand a drop in trips resulting from a tolled cordon. New York bucks these trends for the most part, and could benefit from the congestion pricing. Proving politically it can be done here is the toughest part. But if the most suitable city for the technology and policy cannot get it done, other U.S. cities considering the system would have a tough case to be made that it could work in this country.