New York City Gets Federal Congestion Pricing Funds

Great news today: despite the city missing the application deadline, the federal

government has awarded

New York City $354 million for its congestion pricing plan. Transportation

secretary Mary Peters was positively gushing at her press conference:

The average New York commuter now spends 49 hours stuck in traffic every

year, up from 18 hours in 1982. While some may be content to accept growing

gridlock as a way of life, Mayor Bloomberg is not going to let traffic rob

the Big Apple. He has stepped forward with a plan as brass and bold as New

York City itself.

The department of transportation has now explicitly said that building more

roads doesn’t reduce congestion. Let’s hope that New York’s legislature comes

around to that point of view and accepts this large gift with grace.

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