Are Tolls Always Effective?
With a population of 8.8 million, New York City commuters are given numerous options for traveling: walking, biking, driving, or taking the subway. A large population in such a compact area eventually leads to traffic congestion, especially within the mid and lower Manhattan areas. Related to Braess’s Paradox discussed in class, the act of adding a new highway or a new bridge between districts will not necessarily improve the traffic conditions, and hence, was never considered a primary candidate. We also learned in class, that to discourage self-routing, tolls can be implemented. By adding tolls, we can discourage the usage of certain roads, and by adding subsidies, we can encourage the usage of certain roads. In the article, Ana Ley describes that the board of MTA proposed a toll system within the middle and lower Manhattan regions, with the exception of highways on the border of the borough. This implementation of tolls is meant to be a disincentive for drivers to drive in some of the busiest streets of the city, and rather, opt for mass transit or take different routes to ease up the congestion in Manhattan, similar to the concept of tolls that was introduced in class. As a means to further discourage commercial traffic, higher tolls may be implemented for trucks compared to normal private automobiles.
However, unlike what we’ve discussed in class, this toll may not provide the optimal solution as the extremely high toll fee (it can go up to $23!) can lead to everyone going towards non-tolled highways, such as the Cross Bronx Expressway. The justification behind the high toll is to reduce air pollution in dense areas, but it seems to be alleviating the congestion in one area by transferring to another densely populated area. The proposed congestion pricing plan does not take into consideration of the many other communities around it that will be affected due to its implementation. In an area that already has a long history of geographic discrimination, the toll will drive many commercial vehicles and such to reroute to their neighborhood, worsening the living conditions of mostly underrepresented communities. Although there do seem to be valid benefits behind the plan, such as reduced congestion in Manhattan and encouragement of public transit, there are far more potential consequences that need to be addressed and prevented before the approval of the plan.