Congestion Pricing Moves Closer

The U.S. Department of Transportation overwhelming endorsed the plan for congestion pricing in New York City. Not only did Mary E. Peters, the transportation secretary, praise Mayor Bloomberg's plan, but the federal government put its money where its mouth is, ponying up $354 million to help fund the plan.

She said of the plan, "Unlike building new roads, this plan can be implemented quickly and will have almost an immediate impact on traffic. That's something our current approach has failed to deliver. It seems the only thing growing faster than transportation spending -- which has doubled since 1991 -- is traffic congestion along our cities and highways. Mayor Bloomberg is that rare politician willing to take on taboo topics like congestion pricing, because he knows that commuters need solutions that work, not promises that do not."

The department of transportation all but said congestion pricing must be part of the plan if NYC is to receive the money. Ms. Peters made it clear that she believed congestion pricing was an essential element of that plan, saying "it would be difficult for them to meet those performance objectives" if the commission arrives at a plan that is "substantially different" from the mayor's.

The question that remains is will dinosaurs like Sheldon Silver and Walter McCaffrey get out of the way of progress, or will they be run over by it.

Politics As Usual

There are those in office that want to fix things, and then there are those who just want things their way. Senator Harry Reid wants things his way. Reid is holding the Senate for an all-night debate on Iraq. The problem is he doesn't actually want to debate what's going on in Iraq, he wants the Senate to vote to withdraw the troops.

This is not debate. Debate is here's a problem, let's get people's opinions and see what the best decision is. Reid doesn't want to debate, he wants to placate his liberal constituents. But if he really looked at the issue he'd realize that we don't get a do-over. Pulling the troops out of Iraq does not turn back the clock so everything will be like it was before we went in. You can't base a decision on what could have been, you need to base it on what is. Of course, Reid doesn't want wait for the September report on what is, he wants his way now.

This isn't just going on at the federal level. New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is willing to jeopardize $500 million in federal money because he doesn't like Mayor Bloomberg's plan for congestion pricing. Bloomberg, who has been fighting to meet a federal deadline for the money, has stated that this would be a pilot program, which means let's see what happens and we can stop the program if it doesn't meet expectations. What does Silver want to do? Nothing. He agrees there are environmental and traffic problems, but he wants to create a committee of his cronies to study the problem. The Speaker held the Democratic contingent of the Assembly in New York City, keeping them from attending the debate and voting in Albany.

Enough of politics as usual. Can we get rid of these do-nothing politicians who would rather argue than actually come up with solutions?