NEW YORK (AP) - Half of New York state's voters oppose congestion pricing --
but some say they'd change their minds if they were convinced the traffic fee
would be used to improve mass transit, according to a poll released Monday.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has just a few weeks to persuade the City Council
and the state Legislature to approve the plan, which would charge motorists $8
to enter Manhattan's most congested area.
Supporters say the plan would reduce traffic and raise several billion
dollars for mass transit; critics say the burden would fall unfairly on working
class families.
When asked if they supported or opposed the plan, 50 percent of those polled
said they opposed it, while 33 percent supported it, according to the Quinnipiac
University Polling Institute.
Such fees already exist in Stockholm and London, and transportation planners
in the Washington, D.C. region are also considering an extensive network of
tolls to help reduce congestion and fund transportation improvements.
One of the plans deemed most favorable for the Washington area involves
putting variable tolls on freeways and parkways throughout the region, as well
as all river crossings in the District of Columbia and some other roads.
The tolls would operate with congestion pricing, meaning the price would
vary depending on how bad the traffic is. The goal of congestion pricing is to
use market forces to keep traffic flowing freely at all times.
Congestion pricing is already in the works for some highways in the region.
Virginia is moving forward with high occupancy/toll, or HOT, lanes on the
Capital Beltway and interstates 95 and 395. Maryland is building express toll
lanes, which are similar but without the discount for carpoolers.
In Quinnipiac poll of NY voters, 60 percent of people said they would
support congestion pricing if the money was used to improve mass transit. Thirty
percent said they would not.
But 50 percent of respondents also said they thought it not too likely or
not at all likely that the money would be used for that purpose; only 42 percent
thought it somewhat or very likely the money would go toward mass transit.
The New York City Traffic Mitigation Commission proposal would charge fees
to use streets south of -- and including -- 60th Street between 6 a.m. and 6
p.m. Monday through Friday except on certain holidays.
The poll, conducted March 16-18, surveyed 1,528 registered voters in the
state. The margin of error is 2.5 percentage points.
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