If one New York City-area business association gets its way, motorists could soon be paying dearly for the “pleasure” of driving during heavy traffic in Manhattan.
Under a proposition by the Partnership for New York City, drivers who travel into the city during the busiest parts of the day and through the busiest areas – most likely, south of 60th Street – will face charges of up to $7 a day, while those starting and ending their traveling within the designated area would pay up to $4 a day, according to The New York Times.
Although not all roadways would have charges, the plan would call for some of the busiest roads, via a number of proposed tolling systems, to charge motorists.
“Is there an opportunity to create a congestion-relief zone that would help this global city?” Ernest Tollerson, senior vice president for the Partnership, told The Times. “This is a city that wants to add tens of thousands of jobs, but we can’t continue to build streets and roads. For the long-term growth of the city, we need demand-management tools.”
However, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Friday, Nov. 11, that the city is not pursuing any plans to toll motorists for driving in congested areas.
“It’s not on our agenda to look at it,” Bloomberg told The Times. “The city is always trying to solve traffic problems, and we’ll continue to do that, but congestion pricing is not something that we’re talking about.”