Bloomberg Announces Sweeping Plans to Meet City Growth

NEW YORK (AP) – With New York City’s population expected to keep booming, straining the already-stressed infrastructure and further damaging the environment, city officials have created a wide-ranging plan to make the city livable and prepare for the swell.On Sunday Mayor Bloomberg outlined the sweeping package of proposals focused on the city’s transportation, energy, water and housing networks that in some cases are already overextended beyond capacity by today’s 8.2 million people.“Let’s face up to the fact that our population growth is putting our city on a collision course with the environment, which itself is growing more unstable and uncertain,” Mr. Bloomberg said at the start of his address at the American Museum of Natural History.The most controversial idea in the plan, which was put together by the mayor’s Office of Long-term Planning and Sustainability, is a proposal to charge motorists extra to drive into the most congested swath of Manhattan, which officials say will reduce traffic and pollution while generating money for other transit projects – nearly $400 million in just its first year.There would be no toll booths, just a network of cameras that capture license plate numbers and either charge a driver’s existing commuter account or generate a bill to be paid each time. Trucks would be charged $21 a day while cars would pay $8 to enter the zone of Manhattan below 86th Street on weekdays between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.The major thruways along Manhattan’s east and west sides would not be included, so it would be possible to go from Brooklyn to Harlem along the FDR Drive without entering the zone. Also, commuters who already pay a toll to come into Manhattan via tolls and tunnels would pay the price of the new fee minus that previous toll.By studying traffic patterns, officials estimate that non-city residents would account for about half the fees. It is similar to a system that London has used since 2003, and government officials there say it has significantly reduced congestion.The scheme, known as congestion pricing, is applauded by environmentalists and alternative transportation groups, but is politically tricky for New York City because it would have to be enacted by the state Legislature, and many lawmakers from outer boroughs and bedroom communities around New York may not support it.It is certain to face a tough fight: in addition to elected officials, opponents include driver advocacy groups and organizations like the American Trucking Association, a national industry group that counts major shipping companies among its members.“It will be a real problem for operations for trucking companies and shippers, including all the retailers in Manhattan, which is substantial,” said ATA spokesman Clayton Boyce. “And all the people who get FedEx and UPS deliveries will have problems and will bear extra expense, so we definitely see problems with it.”Even if it passed, it is not likely to be in place for some time. City officials say they need a year or so to upgrade some mass transit options like express buses, because in many cases, New Yorkers drive into Manhattan from the outer boroughs because they have no viable public transportation in those areas.Representative Anthony Weiner, a Democrat who represents parts of Brooklyn and Queens and is running to be elected mayor in 2009, opposes congestion pricing“We must look at innovative ways to face the challenges created by the city’s own success, but a regressive tax on working middle class families and small business owners shouldn’t be one of them,” he said.Mr. Bloomberg acknowledged that there would be considerable debate on congestion pricing, but said the question is “not whether we want to pay but how do we want to pay.”“With an increased asthma rate? With more greenhouse gases? Wasted time?” he said. “Or, do we charge a modest fee to encourage more people to take mass transit?”Congestion pricing is one of many initiatives in the mayor’s plan that are geared toward achieving his goal of a 30 percent reduction in the city’s greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2030.Carbon dioxide, the most common of the greenhouse gases, is emitted from vehicles, power plants and boilers that burn fossil fuel. It and other gases essentially trap energy from the sun, warming the Earth’s surface and lower atmosphere.A recent study of the city’s emissions found that the majority come from the operation of its hundreds of thousands of buildings, which consume electricity, natural gas, fuel oil and steam.The plan includes a number of energy-related proposals, including the idea of encouraging efficiency upgrades – first through incentives, like property tax rebates for the installation of solar panels, and in later years, through mandates. It also proposes retiring the city’s most inefficient power plants, and updating some with cleaner technology.Other clean-air plans include the city’s promise to waive its portion of sales tax when New Yorkers purchase fuel-efficient vehicles.For its own vehicles, some yellow cabs are already being tested as hybrids, and if successful, the entire fleet could be green in eight to 10 years. Officials are also planning to expand the use of biodiesel for its heavy vehicles, like sanitation trucks. Biodiesel is produced from animal fats or vegetable oils and burns cleaner than traditional diesel.The mayor’s plan also addresses conserving water and making it cleaner.Among the initatives is a pilot program to reintroduce mollusks as natural bio-filters. The city plans to create a habitat of ribbed mussel beds in a tributary to Jamaica Bay. If successful, the program could be expanded to wastewater treatment plants.Also, to lower water usage in the city, starting in 2008, the city will launch rebate programs encouraging the installment of efficient toilets, urinals and washing machines.And for that extra million people expected to join the population by 2030, more housing is needed.The plan calls for creative ways to create additional housing units, such as building platforms over exposed railyards, which connects neighborhoods and providing hundreds of acres of new space for housing, schools and parks.

Bloomberg Announces Sweeping Plans to Meet City Growth

Bloomberg Announces Sweeping Plans to Meet City Growth

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