Would You Pay $8 To Drive in Manhattan?

By Marty Padgett January 31st, 2008

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With new $8 fees to drive in Manhattan, this might be the best way to get your car into the city.

A plan to charge drivers $8 for using Manhattan's busy streets appears to be moving ahead.

Mimicking a fee imposed on drivers in London, the new fee for New York drivers is an attempt by the city to deal with the crushing gridlock that can slow down the major thoroughfares in the city, the Wall Street Journal said today. The plan in its draft form would charge each car an $8 toll for entering Manhattan below 60th Street from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the work week. Trucks--aside from those certified as low-emission vehicles--would be charged $21. Taxis will get a $1 surcharge and higher meter rates under the revised plan.

The city has been grappling with a plan under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, at first proposing that 86th Street be the cutoff--and adding a surcharge to travel in the zone. The new system could generate $500 million a year to use toward improving the city's infrastructure, the Journal adds.

We're all for market mechanisms to ease traffic, but the universally levied charges strike us as a bit hamfisted. What do you think? Would raising taxi rates be the key--or simply raising tolls on the city's bridges and tunnels? And would a plan like this work in your city--Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco or Atlanta? Tell us what you think in a comment below.

Plan Addresses New York's Traffic - WSJ.com

Posted in : 2008, Driving |

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10 Responses to “Would You Pay $8 To Drive in Manhattan?”

Pure rubbery. Drivers from outside London destined to somewhe but London do not have to go through the city. For those who live in Brooklyn there are no good alternatives.

I’d love to see drivers charged when they enter San Francisco.

We have too many lost tourists here in their rental cars going the wrong way up our one-say streets, and too many suburbanites on their cellphones driving in circles looking for free parking.

Get out and walk like the rest of us do!

I think it would be a great way to increase use of alternate forms of transportation and clean up some of the congestion. There is always going to be a few people that it will really make things harder for, but overall I think its a good plan.

I think that this is another one of those not thought through ideas that will backfire on the business in the Manhattan area. Sop people will just not enter the city to shop or do business during the fee times. You know that the government will not use the money to improve infrastructure, it will just fall through the cracks and never be seen again. It may reduce the congestion slightly, but what will it do at the tool booths coming into the city. I hope the toll can be taken electronically.

What is even more crazy is that most people outside of the NY area do not realize that we ALREADY pay $6 dollars to drive in Manhattan! This would be an additional $2 dollar hike to today’s rates.

Mayor Bloomberg, though I understand the reasons for this initiative, please challenge your staff to come up with a more equitable solution.

In the future, there will be NO automobiles in any city.
They are completely out of place.
This $8 fee is but the second step, the first being the parking meter..

It is still free to drive in Mason City, Iowa. Come and join us anytime. Actually, don’t. I can’t even stand the traffic here.

Sounds like Brooklynites should be given a free pass, or that money should be spent to develop a viable alternate route for them.

Brilliant idea Mayor Bloomberg!-Just kill of commerce in Manhattan when it is needed most! New Yorkers have been dealing with traffic since the invention of cars. Why fix something that’s not broken? -Just another example of govt greed. We pay enough, stop taking even more!

AR: Do you live in Brooklyn? Have you been to London? Didn’t think so. As a native New Yorker who now lives in London, I can tell you that there are alternatives to those living in Bkln. I for one used to take the SUBWAY. Maybe you’ve heard of it? That thing that looks like a train but travels under (and in some cases over) ground? On good days you can also ride a bike. In both cases, your commute will be largely devoid of traffic.

If you’re going through Manhattan to Jersey for example then you could also take the SUBWAY to the PATH train. If at all serious about implementing a version of the CC in NYC, Bloomberg should also think about creating through streets as there are in London. If you take the A40 for example, you can cross through the City without having to pay the CC. Canal Street or 59/60th streets would be good candidates to get those off the bridges to the West Side Hwy and either down or up and out of Manhattan. But again, there are numerous TRAINS to get commuters into Manhattan.

If you want to use your car in the city center, causing gridlock and negatively impacting the quality of air that’s fine. But you should then be prepared to pay for it. $8 is nothing. London’s Livingstone is proposing £25/day for cars that emit more than 166g/km of CO2. However, if you drive an electric car, a motorcycle or a Prius you’re excempt from paying the fee. At nearly two to one on the dollar that makes for a pricey commute for Londoners who like Range Rovers. You do the math…

The plan is simply a way to raise $500 million.

I can’t wait to hear about all of the exemptions for the politically connected to avoid the fee.

If the plan was truly to protect the air and the citizenry then private vehicles should be prohibited below 60th Street from 0600 t0 1800.