Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I was honestly surprised driving was…so convenient in that part of NYC at least, but midtown is definitely not Manhattan, and also a reverse commute. Midtown Manhattan isn’t Manhattan?
I’m not sure why I knew it as midtown then, but the area I’m talking about is the north side of Central Park where Columbia university is. Harlem is the closest train stop to get to Westchester county. According to wiki it’s called the upper west side of Manhattan. It could have been by girlfriend’s apartment was actually in midtown and I’m misremembering it’s proximity from the university? But even the more northern…
New York City will charge drivers going downtown
601–610 of 700 posts
Re: New York City will charge drivers going downtown
#602I wonder why this is not better designed? At least the public transit situation can be improved, I think. While public transit in germany is quite complicated, I think it stems from a similar federalistic design and maybe the solutions can be translated?
We usually have local public transit owned on the local level, with regional rail owned by the state or the federal railroad company. So different actors like MTA or NJ transit, as I've understood (are there more?).
But we usually have another layer, a transport association. For example in munich it's the mvv, which is owned by the state of bavaria, the city of munich and the neighbouring districts, or the VBB in Berlin, owned by the state of Berlin, the neighbouring state of brandenburg and the districts of berlin and neighbouring of berlin in brandenburg. The transport association usually doesn't own tracks or rail cars, but it's responsible for uniform pricing, ticketing, coordinating schedules and distributing the money to the actual transit providers, which can be federal, local or the state (or multiple states as with berlin).
It is quite complicated and usually in germany nobody knows the difference between the transit providers and the transit association etc., but maybe this system can be translated? It usually leads to a situation where the transport association is perceived as a uniform system and hides the federalists structure behind a common front, and also as a common actor and formal way to coordinate on the future of the system between the different actors.
Re: New York City will charge drivers going downtown
#603A big proportion of the opposition is coming from New Jersey where former Governor Chris Christie systematically diverted public transit funding to constructing more roads leaving NJ Transit with a maintenance backlog, inadequate infrastructure and unhappy workers who were poached by the MTA. This resulted in a mismatch where the infrastructure is designed to favor driving on one side of the river and a fee designed…
There's more reason for NJ residents to take issue with this. In central jersey, it costs at least $20/person for a round trip ticket. If you go with your family or a group of friends filling a 5 seat car, the train costs $100 just to get into the city and then get hit with whatever additional costs you have for the next few subway rides. Gas, parking, and carpool bridge/tunnel toll prices don't add up to anywhere ne…
Drive to a PATH station in newark, hoboken, jersey city, etc. Take the PATH train to manhattan and save $75. Profit.
Re: New York City will charge drivers going downtown
#604Re: New York City will charge drivers going downtown
#605Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Drivers simply pay for their road use through various taxes, and not directly. Taxes that are also paid by those who don't drive, yes?
> Taxes that are also paid by those who don't drive, yes? If you want to be strictly true then yes. In practice, if you are using transit in the US, then you are likely not paying much in taxes. There are exceptions (NYC, SF, DC), of course.
Re: New York City will charge drivers going downtown
#606Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm well aware of his history, and it's always interesting to me how few bad things people can point to that he actually did.. when weighed against all the transit/bridges/tunnels/highways build under his watch. I mean the first thing is a crime of omission, made in basically every other city of the country - where have we seen land be purchased along highways to build transit done anywhere in this country? Even new…
> Also, you can presently get there by bus - https://new.mta.info/guides/beaches/jones-beach That route is absolutely awful. For a typical NYC resident - not even "typical working-class" but anyone - going one-way is 75-100 minutes, two transfers, and around $25-30 per person, while carrying everything you need for the beach. Only the last 20 minutes are actually by bus.
I mean.. what good beaches can you get to from NYC, even by car, in 75-100min?
That's like how long it takes me to drive to Jones Beach, from Brooklyn, on a good day.
Re: New York City will charge drivers going downtown
#607Earlier quoted context omitted.
1. Everyone does not own a car in NJ, just the vast majority.[0] 2. The discussion is about NYC, not NJ, so it is material to the discussion. [0] 11% of households in New Jersey have no access to a car, see https://www.valuepenguin.com/auto-insurance/car-ownership-st...
The parent you replied to was talking about NJ and people in NJ who own cars being accommodated by NY. Your comment was about how people choosing to drive in don’t consider the cost of buying a car. I’m saying no one buys a car to drive in. They already have one because having a car is awesome if you live in NJ. 90% is just about everyone. There are poor people that can’t afford cars and also NJ has cities like Hobok…
Re: New York City will charge drivers going downtown
#608My main concern as NYer is the governments inability to build transit, and not for lack of money. NY will find it relatively easy to institute a new tax on drivers, but will the billions collected actually make transit better in any tangible way? NYC is also hamstrung by having its streets controlled locally by our DOT, but our transit & bridges controlled by a state agency. We just caved (again) entirely to the tran…
Congestion pricing is good insofar as it deters driving. We do need to get our heads out of our asses with respect to the logistics of converting dollars to transit infrastructure, but that's basically independent. Congestion pricing revenue could be given to your favorite charity, redistributed as a citizen's dividend, or lit on fire. The important thing is that as the marginal driver the amount you have to part wit…
Re: New York City will charge drivers going downtown
#609Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Are you trying to say that these people wouldn't already exist without the bus? No. They would be doing other productive things. But right now, they have to spend their productive power on driving buses. This is simply a huge waste of human potential.
Are you a troll account? Or a joke? Can’t tell. Either way the sanctimonious rants devoid of facts are entertaining.
Re: New York City will charge drivers going downtown
#610Earlier quoted context omitted.
Congestion pricing is good insofar as it deters driving. We do need to get our heads out of our asses with respect to the logistics of converting dollars to transit infrastructure, but that's basically independent. Congestion pricing revenue could be given to your favorite charity, redistributed as a citizen's dividend, or lit on fire. The important thing is that as the marginal driver the amount you have to part wit…
I’d go a little further than that. If you enact a Pigovian tax (i.e. a tax intended to reduce some unwanted behavior), there’s a conflict of interest in relying on that revenue for anything because then there is an incentive to try and keep the tax rates lower in order to protect the revenue source.