martianwalrus's Comments

Proposed Move NY Fair Plan Legislation | Closed Proposal

martianwalrus's picture
martianwalrus
1

We bought a car a number of years ago with the express purpose of making getting out of NYC easier for us. This city takes a huge psychological toll on me and my family and we frequently leave it for the peace and quiet of the Catskills or Bear Mountain.

That said, we continue to work on and support any efforts geared towards making this city a saner, healthier place for people to live, work and play. I believe that, many generations down the road, we will have learned how to make cities a place where people can thrive without feeling the need to flee, but it will take a lot of work and a commitment to efforts like this one.

We all pay a price for the choices that we make, but we are not always in control of the environment in which we live. Some people live next to busy highways or noisy intersections, not because they chose to live there, but because they can't afford to live anywhere else. It is a false argument to suggest that, if you don't like it you should just leave.

I fully support this initiative, both because of its goal of creating fair tolls for use of infrastructure, and because of the way it would lock the money into being spent evenly across all modes of transportation, including cars/roads, keeping it out of the hands of politicians who would like to use the funds elsewhere.

Finally, we must acknowledge that, even today, car owners receive a disproportionate amount of the funds used for transportation. Here in Manhattan, less than 24% of residents own a car, but about 38% of the surface area of Manhattan is given over to them exclusively. Pedestrians, cyclists and public transit users are not being given there due under the current funding formulas being used both nationally and locally. So, this is a step in the right direction.

Kudos to the team of people who have been working so long and hard in putting together this proposal and pushing it in Albany as well as here in NYC. Thank you for all that you do.

martianwalrus's picture
martianwalrus
2

It is discouraging that these moneys are at risk, but wonderful that a conscious effort is being made to highlight this risk and limit it to the extent possible. Paragraph ii is important if we want to finally put a stop to misappropriation of funds. Now, if we could only get Albany to fully fund education and give back the money it stole from the DOE!

martianwalrus's picture
martianwalrus
3

I don't see how the MNYHTA is a cover for the Governor. The MNYHTA is taking money directly from the people who use the infrastructure and ensuring that it won't be misappropriated by the Governor or anyone from the executive or legislative branches.

It seems to me that we need to try at least something to make sure that funds are guaranteed for the MTA, TBTA and NYC-DOT. Especially worth noting is the fact that this plan is not ONLY for public transit users, but also for people who drive. This is better than what Bloomberg offered back when he tried to enact congestion pricing and one reason why there is so much support for this plan.

martianwalrus's picture
martianwalrus
4

It looks as though this bill is designed to level the playing field as well as incentivize using public transit over private cars as a way to get around the city. Manhattan is an island that is blanketed with many different options when it comes to transit, and we need to do more to improve the quality and accessibility of that service.

For a long time, public transit has been at an unfair disadvantage in its competition with private transit, both in terms of funding and infrastructure. A case in point is the fact that Select Bus Service buses have to compete with turning and double parked cars, rather than having their own, truly dedicated lanes in which to drive.

This bill would help to tear down some of those barriers to good transit by improving funding and also reflecting the true cost of owning and driving a car in the city. Not only does driving more cause our roads to deteriorate faster, but it also negatively affects our health and that of the environment in which we live. Asthma rates are higher, obesity and heart problems are higher, deaths due to crashes are higher, and these are all health issues that are tied directly to the car.

George objects to the notion that people living here should have to pay as much as the rest of those who drive in from off of the island. The fact is, prices for parking and road services are paid for by everybody, not just car owners. And the amount that car owners pay is far too low, especially when one starts to take externalities like the health issues I mentioned above into account. This plan would not make it impossible to own a car, but it would definitely get people to think more consciously about whether or not to drive or even own a car. In the long term, this must be our goal.

Mayors across the United States and the world are starting to put into place various plans that are heavily informed by Vision Zero (zero deaths and serious injuries due to traffic related incidents). They are also, many of them, confronting the effects of Climate Change, from hurricanes to unseasonably high Summer and Winter temperatures, to Ozone Days, when it is recommended that citizens stay inside due to high levels of ozone in the air, to water shortages due to low snow pack. Manhattan is not immune to these realities, and emissions from cars are a part of the overall reason why Climate Change is happening.

I believe that we are facing some difficult choices, among which is the necessity of giving up our society's love affair with the car. We can no longer continue to drive for every visit to a friend or every errand we have to run. We have no excuse to do so here in NYC where we have so many alternatives. MoveNY has put forth a very thoughtful, thoroughly researched plan that is a compromise designed to address the needs of all those who use the roads and public transit in our city. It gets the job done with out raising the gas tax (though that is something that sorely needs to be addressed). It gives money back to walkers, bikers, transit users and, yes, drivers. This is a small price to pay for making sure that future generations have a healthy world in which to live and raise their children.