MC5 BUMP!
The Tri-State Chapter might be interested in this one.
But how about those who live there?
In order to go on vacation, we still have to get our car out of the garage, drive it to our apartment, and load up the luggage.
Most sensible people do this on Sunday morning, when there is hardly any traffic.
I noticed the article didn't mention it, skated around the issue, really, but the "problem" is not the working folks trying to get to/from work everyday, its the legions of unworking stiffs who have nothing better to do but get in the car by themselves and tool around the city, getting in the way of everyone else who is trying to earn a living...just because they can. This is a tough issue, these folks buy gas and pay the same gas taxes as everyone else, but the commuter in me really despises them. I would gladly pay more to get people who don't really need to be on the roads, off the roads and out of my way. But I think a better way would be to get more trucks off the road during peak hours...at least here in California, that would be great.
heh heh heh
Journalists! What don't they know!
I guess I'm going to be an iconoclast on this one. If New Yorkers want to try this, let them. It's their city and they should be able to run it the way they want. In my understanding of the American system, the states and the local communities are like separate "experiments," trying out this idea and that, as a way to weed out bad ideas and introduce good ideas to the nation as a whole. (I forget the precise term used by one of the founders about the states being "experiments," and I'm sure someone will flame me as a reminder.)
Let New York go ahead and obligate drivers to pay tolls south of 60th street. I grew up in Connecticut - one joker once suggested that the license plate read "The Toll Booth State" - and tolls were a pain but they didn't kill us. We'll see what happens in 10 years.
I don't think this measure would have as much impact on residents of the outer boroughs as people might think. If you go out on the streets of midtown Manhattan today, it quickly becomes apparent that the single biggest culprit in the city's congestion problem is the taxi cab industry. Some years ago when the taxi drivers staged a two-day strike to protest their low fares and working conditions, there was so little traffic on the west side of Manhattan that it was almost delightful to walk around there.
A 110 year old tradition. Wow!