You say that congestion charges tend to be really unpopular with the public. What we learn from both Stockholm and London is that, yes, this is true *before* the charges are implemented. People don't like the idea of paying for something that was once free to them. After implementation, however, both cities saw approval skyrocket, as residents saw firsthand how wonderful it was to have a congestion-free city.
In Stockholm, for example, only 36% of the region's residents favored the program before it was implemented. This is even worse than approval rates for the Move NY program, which stood at 44% in May 2015. Politicians were convinced the congestion pricing program would amount to political suicide, and residents predicted dire consequences including license plate theft, toll evasion, and mass exoduses from the region.
But a remarkable thing happened *after* the program was implemented: there was a complete reversal in public opinion. By the end of 2007, just a few months after the scheme was permanently implemented, 65% of residents viewed the program favorably. This number has only increased since that time; by 2013, the approval rate was at nearly 75%.
All of this is to say that public opinion should not be a barrier to good policy. Yes, it may be difficult to push the legislation through, and there might be some political fallout in the short-term. But as soon as New Yorkers see firsthand the benefits of a congestion pricing program -- which would happen almost overnight -- their opinions will change dramatically. Residents would see how wonderful it is to not be woken up by a cacophany of car horns. They would experience how great it is to travel smoothly down formerly gridlocked streets. They would know how great it is to have a well-funded, world-class public transportation system. Business owners would reap the financial benefits of serving one or more additional clients every day because their employees spend more time working and less time sitting in traffic.
All of the above happened in London and in Stockholm, and there's no reason to believe it wouldn't happen in New York as well.
You say that congestion charges tend to be really unpopular with the public. What we learn from both Stockholm and London is that, yes, this is true *before* the charges are implemented. People don't like the idea of paying for something that was once free to them. After implementation, however, both cities saw approval skyrocket, as residents saw firsthand how wonderful it was to have a congestion-free city.
In Stockholm, for example, only 36% of the region's residents favored the program before it was implemented. This is even worse than approval rates for the Move NY program, which stood at 44% in May 2015. Politicians were convinced the congestion pricing program would amount to political suicide, and residents predicted dire consequences including license plate theft, toll evasion, and mass exoduses from the region.
But a remarkable thing happened *after* the program was implemented: there was a complete reversal in public opinion. By the end of 2007, just a few months after the scheme was permanently implemented, 65% of residents viewed the program favorably. This number has only increased since that time; by 2013, the approval rate was at nearly 75%.
All of this is to say that public opinion should not be a barrier to good policy. Yes, it may be difficult to push the legislation through, and there might be some political fallout in the short-term. But as soon as New Yorkers see firsthand the benefits of a congestion pricing program -- which would happen almost overnight -- their opinions will change dramatically. Residents would see how wonderful it is to not be woken up by a cacophany of car horns. They would experience how great it is to travel smoothly down formerly gridlocked streets. They would know how great it is to have a well-funded, world-class public transportation system. Business owners would reap the financial benefits of serving one or more additional clients every day because their employees spend more time working and less time sitting in traffic.
All of the above happened in London and in Stockholm, and there's no reason to believe it wouldn't happen in New York as well.
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Thanks! Most of the numbers I cited came from this study: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856408001638
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And this is also a nice presentation about Stockholm's program (PDF)
http://www.apta.com/mc/internationalpracticum/previous/2014/presentation...
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