Now is the time for congestion charging

From the NY Times:

The average vehicle speed in Midtown today is just 4.7 miles an hour. That’s 28 percent slower than five years ago. Given that most people can walk up to 4 miles an hour, the human body is sometimes Manhattan’s fastest mode of transportation. …
The good news is that modern societies have developed a solution to the tragedy: Charge money to use the commons. Doing so not only discourages overuse, it also raises funds that can solve the larger need — to grow another field where cows can graze, say, or to build a well-functioning subway system. And, yes, I realize that both grazing cows and well-functioning subways sound far-fetched to today’s New Yorkers.
The charge for using clogged roads is known as “congestion pricing,” and it works well where it has been tried, like London, Singapore and Stockholm. In New York, the daily charge to drive below 60th Street might be around $8, with additional charges for vehicles that linger all day. …

The reason more cities haven’t adopted congestion pricing, (past London Mayor Ken) Livingstone says, is “political cowardice.” People cling to the idea that driving should be free, even though it imposes big costs on others.

In New York, (Mayor Bill) de Blasio opposes congestion pricing. He instead favors a millionaires’ tax to pay for subway improvements. Higher taxes on the rich are a fine idea, but won’t unclog roads. For that, de Blasio has offered a series of small, complex measures, like banning deliveries during rush hour. Good luck enforcing that one.

(New York Governor Andrew) Cuomo is more positive about congestion pricing, but has not filled in the details. He may ultimately support a charge only on taxis and companies like Lyft, Uber and Via. That’s a strangely anti-environment compromise, because it encourages people to own their own cars. The New York of the future should have fewer space-clogging cars, not more.

The most serious argument against congestion pricing is that it hurts lower-income workers. That argument also falls apart on inspection, though.

Only 3 percent of poor and near-poor outer-borough workers drive into Manhattan for their jobs, the Community Service Society of New York found. A whopping 61 percent take the subway or bus.

I understand why politicians are afraid to support congestion pricing. We all like the idea of a free lunch — or a free road. But political leadership is supposed to be just that: leadership. It involves making tough decisions for the common good and winning over citizens.
Price Tags: B.C. is at the moment when it can establish the principle of congestion pricing on service providers like Uber et al. The current study, and the Legislative response that follows, need to do that as part of the deal* to allow their entrance into the market, and on the roads publicly paid for, or government will be fighting a rear-guard action when all the opposing forces will be focused on killing congestion charging or mobility pricing.
*Another requirement: the public reporting of all data generated by Uber or any other “transportation network company.”  New York City, which has that requirement, has discovered that congestion in midtown Manhattan is significantly worsening, even as taxi use drops, because of TNCs.  (Story here.) 
More importantly, a transportation network depends on accurate data, especially as we move to real-time management.  Those who have data have power.  If it isn’t the public sector, it will be the private sector – who will then have profound but unaccountable impact on the life and design of the city.