Highway Robbery
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

As if New York wasn’t highly taxed and unaffordable enough, a business group is proposing that the city levy yet another fee on New Yorkers – this time on drivers. The city’s premier business association, the Partnership for New York City, is drawing up proposals, set to be unveiled in January, for congestion pricing that would impose adjustable fees on drivers entering the busiest parts of the city at peak hours.
At first glance this appears to be a perfect free market initiative. The costs of road maintenance have to be borne by someone and what could be fairer than having users pay for it rather than all taxpayers? Unfortunately that’s not what the proponents have in mind. The president of the Partnership for New York City, Kathryn Wylde, told the Sun that the “idea of the plan is to reduce congestion” – not to remove the burden of funding roads from other, non-driving, taxpayers.
Incredibly Ms. Wylde represents that her group hasn’t been discussing how revenue would be used. They’re happy to leave that to the politicians. Her idea is to focus on reducing congestion in the city to “increase productivity.” Ms. Wylde told the Sun they were “inspired by the experience London has had” in introducing congestion pricing. But congestion charging, as it is known in London, is the brainchild of the socialist mayor of London, “Red” Ken Livingstone, and, as befits a socialist plan, the proceeds are used not to improve the roads or to permit offsetting tax reduction but to advance socialism.
That is, public transit, onto which many of the hapless citizens have been forced as congestion pricing raises the cost of using cars. It is true that traffic flow has therefore improved and only those who really need to use a car use one. But for those whose time is less valuable – and are they not citizens, too? – the ability to move around has become less convenient. The better way to go about this would be to reduce taxes at the top margin in the city, which would provide incentives to growth and expand the city’s revenues, enabling it to improve its infrastructure so that driving and parking wouldn’t be so difficult for those for whom, like so many of us, time is money.