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WPCNR THE LETTER TICKER. November 20, 2023:

A senior fellow at think tank Brookings Metro is predicting that New York State’s impending congestion pricing tax will spread to cities throughout the state and nation in virtually no time, laying the groundwork for additional driving taxes all across the U.S., the group Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free today reports. 

In a controversial 1,440-word piece in Bloomberg last week, Brookings senior fellow Adie Tomer writes: “…chances are the idea will quickly spread to other cities. Residents and officials in Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland, Oregon are already considering congestion pricing.” He continues: “Once congestion pricing gets off the ground, it can unlock the Holy Grail of transportation pricing: vehicle miles traveled (VMT) fees, which would charge for every mile driven, not just those in specific zones.” 

Mr. Tomer’s piece follows a November 7 article in The Atlantic in which environmental activist and former Transportation Alternatives leader Charles Komanoff suggests that the congestion pricing tax should eventually be raised to $100 per trip, per vehicle. “I am a total incrementalist,” he said. The current congestion pricing tax estimate has a $23 cap to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street by vehicle. 

“The public needs to know what’s about to hit them, and their pro-Congestion-Pricing-Tax legislators are doing everything in their power to keep them in the dark,” said  spokesman Joshua Bienstock. “The Congestion Pricing Tax has nothing to do with congestion, air quality, or progressivism; it’s all about sucking additional tax dollars out of already beleaguered New Yorkers. If New York’s Congestion Tax goes through, just watch how many personal transportation taxes will follow all over the state and nation.” 

Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free argues that a Congestion Pricing Tax is unfair and unnecessary. The tax would disproportionately target lower-income New Yorkers, increase dangerous particulate matter in inner city communities already struggling with some of the highest asthma rates in America, and it would slow the revival of Manhattan’s core business districts. The City and State have reported that hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenues have been lost following workplace changes prompted by the Covid 19 Pandemic. 

Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free