Why congestion pricing NYC 2019, have an eye on Los Angeles too.

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NYC has come closer to approve congestion pricing in 2019.  The pricing scheme will introduce congestion pricing for Manhattan area where the congestion is the most serious; will this be a solution to reduce congestion of the city, despite the history that every effort to minimize congestion resulting in more congestion as Professor Martin Wachs mentioned in our history of transportation class? 
Let’s not dive in deep into the taxation theory or the congestion pricing itself, but first, see the context what makes NYC decide on the longstanding policy debate now in 2019. Congestion in NYC is not a new issue, and the congestion pricing has been discussed since Bloomberg’s proposal in 2008.  Why now? 
1.    There is an urgent need for a budget to fix NYC’s metro system. Various surveys suggest that the subway system of NYC satisfaction is lowering YoY, the repair rate does not follow the repair demand, and there is a significant deficit in the budget to bring the system quality up. 
2.    Consumer behavior has changed over the past eight years since Uber started service in NYC. Ride-hailing worked as an alternative for taxis, in the beginning, resolving the customer needs for better consumer experience than an overpriced, stinky, driver selective, unsafe feeling taxi system. Now, having the ride-hailing as an option, moreover the more economic ride-hailing service(Uber pool, Lyft Line), the customer have had the option to choose an alternative at the cost lying somewhere in between public transportation and Taxi, or moreover owning a car resulting in more ridership in NYC, also meaning more vehicles on the street. (Interesting analysis found here. https://toddwschneider.com/posts/taxi-uber-lyft-usage-new-york-city/)
3.    Options for last mile transportation is growing. NYC was the first city to introduce a city bike, to enhance the last mile transportation. Now, multiple options are booming from scooters, bikes, and rickshaws (London) with huge capital investment from the private sector adding up to over $1B in the US only. Now there is less need for a government entity to make the capital investment for the last mile transport as the private sector interest is at its high. 
4.    Lastly, without additional infrastructure investments or equipment development, the collecting entity first can easily charge the ride-hailing providers and its drivers. Because the data is readily available through the service providers’ operation data, meaning the government entity can automatically charge the drivers/customers.  Technology price is decreasing, especially with increased communication infrastructure, the unit cost of identification can’t but be reduced.  
Looping this back to our conversation today with Tham from LA Metro, and the many occasion the congestion pricing was mentioned for a solution to resolve the congestion in LA, it would be interesting to see how LA’s discussion on congestion pricing will be rolling out. Notably, in connection with the 2028 LA Olympics transportation plans, which will require a significant budget for transportation solutions. 

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* This might not be conforming to the suggested format, but I'd be happy to get feedback. Came across this topic a few weeks ago and thought it is interesting that both our speakers spoke about solutions for congestion and congestion pricing. 

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  1. Juan MatuteApril 16, 2019 at 11:34 AM

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