A More Equitable TransportationFormula For NY Metro Area

(+35,000 Recurring Local Jobs)

Samuel I. Schwartz, P.E.Sam Schwartz Engineering

March 2012

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

- Albert Einstein

• Viewed as a tax• Sanctity of inter-borough travel• No trust that dollars will go to transportation• Little in it for car centric outer communities; for

biggest contributors• Boroughs pay bulk; little burden on Manhattanites

south of 86th St.

CONGESTION PRICING:Why it failed and why it will continue to fail

Unless, we learn from history

“Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

- Winston Churchill(Var. George Santayana)

MOST RECENT PLANS:Bloomberg Plan

• $8 Cars• $21 Trucks• South of 86th Street• 50% discount in zone• FDR, West Side Highway Free• No double dipping• Taxis, Buses, Disabled

exempt

Ravitch Plan

• Tolls on E. River Bridges same as Major MTA facilities at $6.50 now, one-way

• Tolls on Harlem River Bridges same as single ride subway fare

• One-way tolling• Implementation of variable

tolling on crossings

NYC City Council For/Against Bloomberg’s Plan 2008

Heavy Opposition from outer perimeters of Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island as well as central Brooklyn and Queens

Why Should Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn be Angry?

Throgs Neck Bridge

• $640 million collected in 2010 (RFKB +TNB + WB)• Most of the $$ goes to subways, Metro-North and LIRR• Awful transit across bridges• Round trip tolls hiked $11 to $13 cash, $9.14 to $9.60

EZ Pass on Dec. 30, 2010 and more to come

Why Should Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn be Angry?

Throgs Neck Bridge

1960 $.50 2000 $81970 $1 2011 $131980 $3 2020 $251990 $6 2030 $51

projected*

projected*

* Cash rate round trip

Major Crossings:Passenger Car Round Trip Cash Fares (1965 - 2030)

Successful in:• Singapore (1975)

• Bergen, Norway (1986)

• Durham, UK (2002)

• London (2003)

• Stockholm (2007)

• Valletta, Malta (2007)

• Milan (2008)

• Oslo, Norway (1990)

• Trondheim, Norway (1991)

• Gothenburg, Sweden (2013)

• Beijing (TBD) Announced September 2011.

Congestion Pricing

Case Study New York CityEast River Bridges: Tolled Until 1911

Mayor Gaynor: [tolls] inconvenient and irksome…For my part, I see no more reason for tollgates on the bridges than for toll gates on Fifth Avenue or Broadway.

Mayor William Jay Gaynor, center, moments after being shot on Aug. 9, 1910.

Current Dysfunctional Pricing Scheme

$9.60($13)

$9.50*($12)

$4.80($6.50)

$2.20($4)

FREE!

FREE!

FREE!FREE!

CBD

2012 Toll Rates

$4.80($6.50)

$4.80($6.50)

$4.80($6.50)

$1.80($3.25)

$1.80($3.25)

$9.50*($12)

$9.50*($12)

$9.50*($12)

$4.80($6.50)

$9.50*($12)

Legend

$EZPass ($Cash)

Tolls in both directions

Toll in one direction

Peak hour rate

$# ($#)

*

New Jersey “Trucker’s Special!”

Take Manhattan BridgeSave $70 and have fun!

Tour Chinatown, Tribeca, and Little Italy via Canal St.

(While supplies last)

Even More Dysfunction!FREE!Outbound

FREE!Outbound

$70 (5-Axle)

Verrazano Bridge BoondoggleCreated by an act of Congress

FREE!

FREE!

Wipe the Slate Clean

$9.60($13)

$9.50*($12)

$4.80($6.50)

$2.20($4)

FREE!

FREE!

FREE!FREE!

CBD

$4.80($6.50) $4.80

($6.50)

$4.80($6.50)

$1.80($3.25)

$1.80($3.25)

$9.50*($12)

$9.50*($12)

$9.50*($12)

$4.80($6.50)

$9.50*($12)

Fair Pricing: A more equitable transportation formula 1 – Apply market-driven pricing where there’s serious congestion and where there are good transit options (aimed at choice drivers).2 – Lower or eliminate tolls at poor transit locations

Manhattan CBD Congested With Choice Riders

$9.50($12)

$2.20 ($4)

CBD

$.80($2.25)

$9.50($12)

$9.50*($12)

$9.50*($12)

TheFairPlan

An exampleof flat rateapproach

$5 ($7)

$.80($2.25)

$4.60($8)

$2.30 ($4)

$2.30($4)

$2.30($4)

$5 ($7)

$5 ($7)

$5 ($7)

$5 ($7)

$5 ($7)

$5($7)

$9.50*($12)

Legend

$EZPass ($Cash)

Tolls in both directions

Toll in one direction

Peak hour rate

$# ($#)

*

$0

$0

CBD

-$1

$0

$0

$0

$0

TheFairPlan

+$5 ($7)

-$5

-$2.50

-$2.50-$2.50

+$5($7)

-$1

Delta rates from 2012

+$.20 ($.50)

Legend

$EZPass ($Cash)

Tolls in both directions

Toll in one direction

Peak hour rate

$# ($#)

*+$5 ($7)

+$5 ($7)

+$5 ($7)

+$.20 ($.50)

Equitable Transportation Formula (ETF)

• Reduce round trip tolls on non-Manhattan Major Spans between boroughs by $5, minor spans by $2; 5 year freeze on non-CBD bridges, COLA afterwards (Max), 615K vehicles/day

• $5 E-Z Pass/$7 Cash Tolls for East River Bridges both ways, Midtown and Battery Tunnels to CBD and 60th Street screen line 485K vehicles/day

• End parking tax rebate for Manhattanites south of 86th St.• $1 surcharge on taxi trips south of 86th St.• Reduce bus fares by $1 in neighborhoods with limited subway

access• No service reductions on local buses for three years without

Community Board approval• Creates 35,000 recurring local jobs

Revenue Generated (Millions)

Transit Investment = Revenue – (Investments + Costs) = Net Available

$1,690M – ($250M + $250M) = $1,190 Million35,000 Jobs Annually

East River Bridges $84160th Street Screenline $1,198Sub-Total $2,039Revenue Loss TBTA ($441)

Revenue Delta $1,598Taxi Surcharge $70End Parking Rebate $22

Total Dollars $1,690

East River Bridge Maintenance

$50

System Costs $200

Costs $250

Costs (Millions)

Highway Fund $200

Ped Bridge Fund $ 50

Total Investments

$250

Investments

Annual Financial Impacts of Fair Pricing

Balanced Transportation Analyzer By Charles Kominoff

Analysis of Fair Pricing Plan

• Net revenue: $1,260 Million (a year)• Taxi surcharge: $150 million• Time Savings: Almost 200 million hours a year, worth

$3.5 billion• CBD Time Savings: 22% on weekdays 6am-6pm• Drop in # vehicle entries to CBD: 21% weekdays 24h• Change in # persons entering CBD: Up 3.3%.

Balanced Transportation AnalyzerBy Charles Kominoff

Highway Improvements• LIE, Bruckner and Belt Bus Rapid Transit down median• Widen Staten Island Expressway and Van Wyck Expressway

bottleneck to JFK• Get trucks off Brooklyn Streets; widen Belt Parkway, allow

commercial vehicles, and improve access to JFK/Aqueduct

LIE

Three New Bridges to Manhattan for Peds/Bikes

Hoboken /Jersey City

Midtown

Financial District

Governor’sIsland

DowntownBrooklyn

Long Island City/Hunter’s Point

Greenpoint

Brooklyn > Governors Island > Lower Manhattan

Viewed as a Tax• Fair Pricing applied where there’s congestion and good transit• Tolls lowered for 613,883; raised for 485,313 daily car trips

Sanctity of Inter-borough Travel• Tolls reduced between Queens-Bronx, Brooklyn-Queens, Staten Island-

Brooklyn• Only travel to CBD is priced

Boroughs Pay Bulk; Little Burden on Manhattanites South of 86th St.• No parking rebate south of 86th St.• $1 surcharge on taxis south of 86th St.

No Trust That Dollars Will Go to Transportation• A lock-box system, using 2010 transportation investment as base, must be

legislated• 35,000 annual jobs created

Little In It For Car-centric Outer Communities• Many of their tolls reduced• Staten Island Expressway, Belt and Van Wyck Expressway widened• Bus rapid transit for LIE, Belt Parkway and Bruckner to suburbs

Equitable Transportation Formula