Secret Legislation? When, a couple of days ago, I asked State Senator John Sabini about congestion pricing, he replied, he’d seen no specific legislation. As it turns out, the actual state legislation required for Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC 2030 is still secret. NYC’s draft of enabling legislation has been shared with the Governor’s staff but with no one else. Legislation in the dark continues, it appears, after day one. Via Daily Politics [1] is a report which suggests that some or all of the draft may become less secret Monday when the Mayor goes to Albany to lobby for his plan.
Less regressive? Advocates of congestion pricing sometimes hate to hear voiced the (in my opinion fair) criticism that it effectively hits most the pockets of those who can afford it least. Cornell University Economist Robert H. Frank [2] writes in Thursday’s NY Times business section of a way to blend some fairness with traffic control. He proposes that lower-paid people get some free vouchers for transit trips which they could sell or use. A tax credit for lower income drivers might also stem some of the scent of privilege which the proposal projects at present.
36 Mayors from 45 Cities? Mayors from around with world, including London’s “Red Ken†Livingstone will be in NY next week for the C40 Mayor’s meeting on climate change. “C40Cities†sponsored by major banks, oil corps and electricity generators will run a 4 day gab fest May 14-May 17 about reducing global warming. Check out the site [3]. If you can’t crash the City event (Bill Clinton speaks Wednesday at the Time Warner Center), try the Drum Major Institute forum on Friday. [4]
I know it isn’t news but some folk will make a story of anything. The New York Metropolitan Area Transportation Council – an intergovernmental group which could and should be at the center of transport planning in NY, but hasn’t been – has discovered [5] that vehicular transport continues to be second in popularity after the subway. They mean that combined -- autos, taxis, buses, trunks and vans -– are very popular in NY. Gene Russianoff has said that an hour spent with MATNYC can seem like a lifetime (But, as always, he held out hope for future improvement).
[6] | 
[7] | 
[8] | 
[9] | 
[10] | 
[11] | 
[12] | 
[13] | 
[14]