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Congestion pricing is about taxing blue collar workers (plumbers electricians and such), who cannot afford to live in Manhattan and have to use vehicle for work
by slt2021 2y ago
Congestion pricing is about taxing blue collar workers (plumbers electricians and such), who cannot afford to live in Manhattan and have to use vehicle for work.
- afavour 2y agoWould they not just pass the charge directly onto their customers living in the central business district?
- slt2021 2y agoall costs are passes through, but elasticity of demand and supply will lead to consumer/supplier splitting the tax in the ratio of their respectable elasticities. fundamentally though it is NOT about reducing congestion, it is about stealing money from poor blue collar workers from outer boroughs, and handing them out to finance MTA's bogus overtime and 400k salaries for doing nothing useful. while also enabling rich urban liberals from manhattan to signal their "ecology conciousness"
- afavour 2y ago> it is about stealing money from poor blue collar workers from outer boroughs It isn’t though, is it? What percentage of poor blue collar workers in the outer boroughs drive into the CBD of Manhattan for work on a regular basis? Very few. The cost of parking already makes it prohibitive for most. If they work as e.g. an electrician they’re already passing the parking fee onto their customer. Congestion charge will be the same. But yeah, sure, there will be a small number of people affected that way. But orders of magnitude more poor blue collar workers would benefit from better public transit. You can’t run a city by vetoing anything that has a negative effect to someone. Nothing will ever get done.
- sqeaky 2y agoBut you can run a city buy carefully picking and choosing who your policies impact and minimizing that impact where appropriate.
- portaouflop 2y agoYea running a city of millions of people is super easy. Just pick the good policies instead of the bad dummy!
- sqeaky 2y agoI mean it is a thing experts can in theory do well, it isn't fundamentally doomed as the person I responded to implies.
- Matticus_Rex 2y agoSo... pick policies like this one that very disproportionately pull money from people who are wealthier to improve the situation for everyone?
- sandwitches 2y ago[dead]
- CalRobert 2y agoWouldn't people like your example end up with more billable hours due to reduced congestion, likely coming out ahead?
- SkipperCat 2y agoI don't buy that argument. If the plumber/electrician is working for a company and driving a company car, then the company will pay the extra $15 for that corporate vehicle to be in Manhattan. If the person has their own business then they can easily afford the daily $15. Skilled trades and the owners of those companies make very good wages in NYC. I see plenty of blue collar workers on the MTA. Its one of the fastest ways to get around Manhattan and much cheaper than paying for parking.
- slt2021 2y agoI have a problem with this “can easily afford” logic. This is not true, and this is not how taxation should work. You are just justifying stealing money from blue collar by bogus “they can afford it” logic. A lot of NYC residents can easily afford extra $15 (their incomes are like 6 figures) why not just spread the tax to everyone to make it more equitable? And more revenue for MTA
- kcb 2y agoI take the Lincoln Tunnel during rush hour(in a bus). I see seas of single occupant cars and personal vehicles entering the city.