Fighting the knee-jerk reactions of our car culture requires some creative policymaking.  Congestion pricing was introduced in London and Stockholm to great public skepticism and disapproval.   The plans there would not have been become a reality had implementation depended on the approval of the people or the sycophant politicians that represent them.  Instead, London and Stockholm used quick strike policymaking, avoiding public feedback or legislative approval.  Despite the resulting outcry, public officials were confident that the public’s perception would change after experiencing the benefits of reduced traffic, and they were right.  Stockholm held a public vote after ending its congestion pricing trial period, and the plan won public approval at that time.  While London’s plan has never been put to a vote, congestion pricing enjoys tremendous public support, as does the city’s mayor, Ken Livingstone.  

Michael Bloomberg was poised to replicate not just the congestion pricing plans in these other cities, but also the lightning implementation strategy.   Car drivers are even more addicted and fearful in the U.S. than Europe, and any delay or widespread debate would raise the anxiety to panic levels.   Bloomberg’s team allowed roughly 90 days from the introduction of the idea to approval, a nanosecond in the policymaking world.  Unfortunately, the skeptics had the right person in power at the right time.  I believe, and I am sure congestion pricing advocates everywhere agree, that had the congestion pricing experiment been allowed to move forward in New York, car drivers would have been paying to drive into Manhattan, with widespread public approval, for generations to come.  Instead, we might be waiting a few more generations to see true congestion pricing in the U.S.

Now Bloomberg is forced to defend himself against accusations that he really isn’t the everyman subway rider he purports to be.  The New York Times reports that Bloomberg, who claims to ride the subway to work most days, gets picked up from his Upper East Side residence each morning by two hulking SUVs and is driven to a Midtown subway stop (near Bloomingdale’s) for a direct ride to his office.  Since Bloomberg lives blocks from a subway stop that would take him to work, albeit with a transfer, the arrangement seems a bit odd, but as this follow up in the Times points out, no mayor has spent significant time beneath the streets of New York.  And when they do, their motives are typically suspect. 

I’m sure, like his predecessors, Bloomberg rides the subway for the photo ops and publicity.  However, since Bloomberg led the crusade for congestion pricing in our most traffic-clogged city, I’ll suspend judgment on his transportation practices for a long, long time.

Photo Credit: Hiroko Masuike/New York Times