Congestion-Pricing Becoming a Delicate Balancing Act

Streetsblog covers an article in Crain's New York Business from yesterday about potential changes to the congestion pricing plan that would reduce the size of the area (from 86th to 60th streets) and remove hundreds of cameras from the plan. The changes would also offer discounted or free entry to drivers from New Jersey and Long Island, drastically increase fees for on-street parking, and impose higher taxes on garage parking.

The reason for these changes is that the committee reviewing Mayor Bloomberg's congestion-pricing proposal believe that there is shaky support for some elements of the plan and that it would not create enough revenue for the MTA to offset the investments in public transportation infrastructure a reduction in car use would necessitate. However, with a January 31 deadline looming for a final proposal and a workable plan, there seems to be much work to be done. Kathryn Wilde who represents the city council on the review committee is quoted as saying,

"Changing the plan will mean revisiting all the concessions and considerations involved with the MTA and Port Authority in particular, but also the state Department of Transportation, the state of New Jersey and the jurisdictions of Long Island and Westchester. It's just not that simple."

The big question the article raises though, is not about whether the needs and desires of all the agencies involved can be accommodated, but rather whether the plan (if it ultimately contains these provisions) will still be eligible to receive the $354.5 million federal grant if it is more focused on raising revenues from parking fees than reducing congestion in Manhattan.

So, what do you think? Are these changes going to improve or water-down the plan? And what happened to the MTA budget surplus we keep hearing about?