The Congested Logic Of Congestion Pricing

The problem with instituting congestion pricing is that to make it fair, you have to start charging everyone $8 to go anywhere:

The New York State Department of Transportation brought its second round of PlaNYC neighborhood parking workshops to Long Island City on Tuesday, where community members had a chance to weigh in on several parking options.

The DOT conducted its first round of meetings in November to assess the needs of several communities in the city and continue discussion about possible parking options to offset the potential effects of congestion pricing.

The second round of meetings explored four options in depth. Consultants from Howard/Stein-Hudson Associates, Inc. — the firm representing the DOT — also provided data from a recent parking study conducted in Long Island City.

Many western Queens residents said parking is already severely limited in their communities. Others fear congestion pricing would cause an influx of even more commuters who park their cars in the neighborhood and take the subway or the bus into Manhattan.

The recent study surveyed 343 residential parking spaces in Long Island City at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on the same day and at 5:30 a.m. the following morning.

According to the data, 60 percent of the vehicles seen at 6 p.m. were still in the same spots at 5:30 a.m. Out of the vehicles parked overnight, 47 percent were registered in the neighborhood, 55 percent were registered within Queens, 66 percent were registered within New York City and 82 percent were registered within New York State. Eighteen percent of the cars observed were registered out of state.

All four of the plans proposed on Tuesday focused discussion on the possible issuance of residential parking permits. The first would require a permit during designated hours (between 8 and 24). The second would require a permit only during a one- to two-hour period, which would mean non-permit holders would be forced to move their vehicles during that time.

The third option, a variation on the first, would have the same stipulations, but also allow commuters to purchase a permit for $8 a day. The fourth option, similarly a variation on the second, would also allow commuters to purchase a daily permit for $8.

“None of this has been decided,” noted consultant Scott Gierig, who emphasized that the purpose of the workshop was to gauge community response to each of the proposals.