Bowing to Special Interest Pressure, NY Governor Hochul “Indefinitely Delaying” Congestion Pricing

New York continuing to be a warning call for what "vote blue no matter who" gets you.

A bunch of completely useless democrats who are to the right of Nixon.

A state government dominated by Republicans at all levels means a conservative government.
A state government dominated by Democrats at every level means a thousand Joe Manchins.

The New York dems didn’t deliver on a promise? Really? This is the first time I’m hearing this.

Nothing good ever happens. Can't wait for NYC to go back on its 95% subway station accessibility by 2060 promise as well. 🥴

once sea level rise floods the tunnels, we'll just issue SCUBA equipment to each MTA rider and accessibility becomes easier because of buoyancy
- Aren’t the subways in New York already built under basically actual rivers and require continuous drainage to maintain functionality?
- Don't worry the Democrats will run on replacing 73% of the subway lines with Els by 2115
Can't wait for NYC to go back on its 95% subway station accessibility by 2060 promise as well.
Honestly the current plan is insulting enough as it is. Accessibility laws passed in what, the 1970s? I get its tough to build in the city with all the craziness going on underground (all sorts of utility pipes and what not), but for it to take this long to formulate a plan and then carry it out... just a sad state of things.

Cowardice to the most insane degree. The one good thing that I was looking forward to is gone. Infinite jihad against Hochul.

Hochul is responding to worries raised by Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader who is fiercely trying to win back a Democratic majority this year. Republican victories in New York congressional races helped the GOP seize power two years ago, and Hochul and Jeffries are both anxious to reverse that fortune."

Republican victories in New York congressional races happened because of an own-goal redistricting process done by Democrats while they controlled a supermajority of the state legislature.
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/what-went-wrong-new-yorks-redistricting
- That's minimizing all the hard work that state dems have put in to being dumber than dogshit and trying to campaign to republicans while telling anybody left of Clinton to go fuck themselves.
  I would legit be ok with hochul eating shit just so maybe dems could be aware of the fact there actually is a basement to the amount of shit people will put up with while begrudgingly supporting you.

Not so surprising given how much of a voice the media gave to opponents to attack congestion pricing.

Aren't congestion charges a regressive punishment for those who are stuck driving in cars? Increasing the cost of driving is an attempt at a market solution to traffic. Market solutions suck balls, are ineffective, punish the poor, and don't mean anything to the rich.

I don't think anyone on Hexbears should be supporting making driving (something that working class folks are forced to do and rich folks treat as a luxury) more expensive. We need to focus on making alternative transportation modes more effective and free instead

At least as far as New York City goes this is wrong. Car ownership in the city is correlated with income; the poorer you are the more likely you are to not own a car and instead take public transit to work. https://wellango.github.io/posts/2021/06/who-owns-cars-in-nyc/
There have been repeated studies (see https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2007/11/02/fact-check-congestion-pricing-is-not-a-regressive-tax or https://citylimits.org/2017/09/07/debate-fact-check-is-congestion-pricing-regressive/) that in NYC congestion pricing would not be a regressive tax, and in fact would be progressive given the composition of car ownership in the city. Couple this with the fact that less cars means a more pleasant experience for those walking and taking transit (the vast majority of New Yorkers, especially amongst the poor) it's clear that congestion pricing would be a good thing.
- Oops, I replied before actually looking at the studies you put in there. That is good info.
  I would still say that overall, opposing flat fuel taxes, tolls, and congestion taxes is a good stance, because in nearly all areas it is the workers who are tied to car ownership for their employment. We should be making it easier for workers to save time and money and have more time for organizing!
  However, it appears in this case there is at least an argument in support of the tax. Although diverting existing gas and driving tolls and taxes instead of adding new ones might be better.
  It is good that the money is going to fund transit.
  I feel like a crazy person though being the only one to suggest that carbrained america has tied it's workers to the expense of driving and then ratchets up the cost in the name of fighting climate change or congestion if peace of mind and that that hurts workers. It's true.
- I don't think the people who this is going to negatively affect can afford to live in Manhattan. They live outside and commute in.
  The environmental and peace push is fine but it's really a NIMBY argument and separate from the extra cost on the workers.
The congestion pricing was only going to apply to cars driving downtown in Manhattan. The only people driving to work in downtown Manhattan are wealthy Americans who work a bullshit email job and commute from their oversized mcmansions in New Jersey or Long Island.
The money raised from the congestion pricing was also going to be put into public transit.
- I know several gen-x and millennial working class folks who need to drive into Manhattan with their tools to do jobs in Manhattan. Offices don't just materialize and sadly its hard to bring ladders and boxes of power tools on the subway.
- There aren't service workers who drive to downtown Manhattan or Uber drivers? I would be supportive of a progressive charge, but simply implementing a new cost for people forced to drive isn't supporting the working class.
- Are you sure? I would believe that tons of workers (maintenance, technicians, service) live outside of Manhattan and commute there, and probably many drive, since the subway is good, it doesn't reach everywhere
I don't think anyone on Hexbears should be supporting making driving (something that working class folks are forced to do and rich folks treat as a luxury) more expensive. We need to focus on making alternative transportation modes more effective and free instead
This is, at it's core, reinventing homo oeconomicus but for transportation. I don't mean this argumentative, but it stems from the idea that "were they alternatives good enough, people would not drive a car" which sounds reasonable, but given how carbrained society and many individuals are, just isn't true.
- Unfortunately, it is true. What doesn't make sense from a leftwing perspective is making life less affordable for people who depend on driving to get to their work. Rich people don't give a shit about a few extra dollars to drive. Yes they'll whine about it, but it doesn't affect them really. Who it does affect is the maintenance worker who has to pay more to get to their work site with their safety equipment and tools, or the technician who comes in from out of city to work on fixing stuff.

she's so wavy

we may have to start making excuses for the lack of terror

I'm relieved. Turning private cars into a revenue stream means the MTA will always want large numbers of private cars rolling into the city. That's the opposite of what a transit system should aim for. A ban on private cars will put rich people too snooty for the metro in favor of a better metro, as it will be the only game in town, and they will get what they want. I know Hochul's opposing it from the opposite direction, but that doesn't make it a good policy.

OK but you see how this is not really a solution, right? This is the ultraleft position of "if we can't do the best possible thing we shouldn't do anything at all." Congestion pricing discourages cars from entering the city and is a step towards a private car ban. The MTA does not control the bridges or tunnels into Manhattan, that's the Port Authority, so they're not in a position to ever ban or affect cars entering or exit the city. There's no like perverse incentive this creates on the part of the MTA to support cars because they have no policy levers to do so.
- It's a step away from political feasibility of a car ban. As it stands, the opposition should just be drivers. With a congestion charge in place, a car ban would mean budget cuts to the MTA and/or tax hikes, so you'll see people who never set foot inside a car opposing the ban because they'd be impacted by one or both of those things.
  As for the policy levers, they run the metro. If they improve the metro to the point that a lot of drivers stop driving in, they lose money. That's the perverse incentive.

Here's a good counterpoint to the regressive idea of congestion taxes. I've been trying to convey this message throughout this thread, as I seem to be the only person here who sees this congestion tax as hurting the working class. Anyway, I can't seem to get my ideas across, but this is a good summary:

https://socialistrevolution.org/mobilize-labor-to-fight-nycs-congestion-tolls/

We must ask: who will these less crowded streets benefit? It can only benefit the wealthy who are unbothered by a $15 fee for driving on refreshingly emptier streets.
Counterpoint, the other group of people who will benefit are those that breathe air. The reduction of air pollution will benefit all in the city, including workers who have to work in the air of New York and who do not drive at all.