Letters to the Editor
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‘Wreckage Scattered In Albany’
New Yorkers should be breathing a sigh of relief that the so called “congestion pricing” plan has been kicked out of play [New York, “Wreckage Scattered In Albany,” April 8, 2008].
Not everyone bought it, but New Yorkers over the last 10 months or so have been sold a lot of myths partly based on the supposed success of the London “congestion charge.” The only success in London has been that of a public relations campaign. The reality is that traffic in London is just as slow as it was before this toll was introduced. The toll started at $10 and only applied to a very small area. That charge barely covered the costs of collecting it, so it was increased to $16 and the area that was tolled was doubled.
The plan now is to charge some cars $50 — and that is a daily charge. There are also punitive fines if you don’t pay on the day, which results in some drivers having their cars seized by the bailiffs.
Because of its failure to reduce congestion, the London toll has been increasingly repackaged as an anti-air pollution and an anti-global warming measure, with questionable success.
All cities need to do something positive to cope with traffic and other problems, but looking to tolls for the answer is like treating a patient with a sore ankle by breaking it and then giving them a big bill to pay for the “cure.”
JOHN McGOLDRICK
National Alliance Against Tolls
Greasby, Britain
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