Brooklyn's Progress
October/November 2007

BY JILL D’AMICO

Since the law passed in New York State in July that a Congestion Mitigation Panel must be named to study the effects of a pricing plan in Manhattan’s Central Business District, work is underway to come up with solid recommendations by a Jan. 31, 2008 deadline. The State Legislature will have to vote on the plan by Mar. 31, 2008.

The 17-person New York City Traffic Mitigation Congestion Commission was announced in late August and will now take up the challenge of creating a plan that must reduce traffic by at least 6.3% in order to be eligible for Federal funding and meet the State’s requirements. Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan would mean an $8 charge on drivers entering Manhattan below 86th Street, and $21 for trucks during the workday.

The commission held its first meeting on Sept. 25 in Manhattan.

“It’s hard to tell from the first meeting,” said Elizabeth Yeampierre, a commission member and community activist. “I think we were trying to get a sense of each other and find out what our priorities are.”

But, she said, with six months until the commission must have a plan agreed on, things must keep moving.

“There is an urgency to do this quickly and properly,” she said. “It’s going to happen in a heartbeat. I think between now and the next meeting there will be a lot of groundwork laid.”

The next meeting, which is open to the public, is being held on Oct. 25.

The panel was chosen by congestion pricing advocates Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Governor Eliot Spitzer and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who each chose three appointees. Minority Leader Malcolm Smith, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, all cautious about implementing a congestion pricing plan, chose eight members between them.

Not soon after the appointments were made in August, New York City announced a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) asking for the input of “firms or teams of firms with the ability to perform all or most of the services required to design, implement, operate and maintain a congestion pricing program for New York City.”

The move, customarily made in the preliminary stages of the procurement process, will allow the City to gauge interest in the marketplace for the particulars of Mayor Bloomberg’s plan.

Interested parties will be asked to identify key issues regarding equipment, operations, enforcement, maintenance, privacy, urban design, communications, interoperability with E-ZPass and data monitoring.

Moving Ahead
Ms. Yeampierre, who is executive director of UPROSE, Brooklyn’s oldest Latino community-based organization, has supported congestion pricing in the past. She said the issue is not about partisanship, but coming up with an effective means of decreasing traffic and protecting the environment.

“[The Commission] is concerned about the same things. Something has to happen – the population has to increase, we know there’s no stopping that. This is not a time for playing political games.”

“The Traffic Mitigation Congestion Commission will examine our plan and other pricing plans, and the responses from firms with the right technological expertise will be useful to demonstrate in detail how such a plan may be implemented,” said Mayor Bloomberg in regards to the RFEI. “If we are going to meet the required implementation date of March 31, 2008 to receive $354.5 million in federal funds, we have to begin planning now.”

“The responses from the private sector will give us a better understanding of the various approaches for successfully implementing a reliable and effective congestion pricing plan,” explained Dan Doctoroff, deputy mayor for economic development and rebuilding.

Earlier this summer, the federal government announced it will give New York City $354.5 million dollars towards reducing congestion with the caveat that it must implement a system that uses a pricing plan as a tool to reduce traffic. The federal money will not cover that element, however, but instead will go to constructing bus depots, expanding ferry service, and improving mass transit in general. The city will have to raise the $223 million it estimates will cost to install the computerized system that will monitor and charge drivers.

Commission Agenda
Even in the face of fierce debate, some form of congestion pricing is likely to be part of the Commission’s recommendations, judging from the appointments, which include a slight majority of avowed pricing plan proponents.
The panel is comprised of Richard Bivone, president of the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce; Assemblyman Richard L. Brodsky of Westchester; Assemblywoman Vivian E. Cook of Queens; Andy Darrell, director, Living Cities program at Environmental Defense; Thomas F. Egan, chairman, State University of New York Board of Trustees; Assemblyman Herman “Denny” Farrell, Jr., who represents West Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood; Gary LaBarbera president, New York City Central Labor Council, Edwin C. Reed, CFO of the Greater Allen Cathedral of New York; Gerard Romski, counsel and project executive for Arverne by the Sea, a mixed-use development in Queens; Gene Russianoff, a staff attorney for NYPIRG's Straphangers Campaign; City Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan; Elliot “Lee” Sander, executive director and CEO of the MTA; Andrea Batista Schlesinger, executive director of the Major Institute; Marc V. Shaw, executive vice president for strategic planning at Extell Development Company and named as the head of the commission; Anthony Ernest Shorris, executive director of the Port Authority; Kathryn S. Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City; and Ms. Yeampierre.

Ms. Wylde was a guest speaker at the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce’s congestion pricing forum, held in July. She argued that congestion costs more to businesses in the long run than any daily pricing plan would impose.

The NYC Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission announced that public hearings will occur Citywide between Wed., Oct. 24 and Mon., Nov. 5.

To learn about attending, download this form (.pdf file)