What Would Have Happened if East River Bridge Tolls Were Still in Effect?
In the summery glare of a July morning, transportation advocates drove antique cars to a wooden toll booth they’d set up on the Manhattan side of the Williamsburg Bridge. Among them, in bow tie and straw hat, was former New York City traffic commissioner Sam Schwartz. He eased his roadster to the booth, stopped and pointedly proffered a dime to pay a toll that had been abolished 100 years ago to the day.
That was the last year anyone paid to cross the city’s four East River Bridges. Schwartz and his allies in Transportation Alternatives and The Straphangers Campaign, say it’s time that changed.
They said eliminating the tolls has cost the city $31 billion in inflation-adjusted revenue, part of which could’ve been used to maintain the Williamsburg Bridge.
“Every one of those steel beams is new,” Schwartz said, gesturing toward the bridge, which underwent a top-to-bottom renovation lasting more than a decade and finishing not long ago.
Those new beams on the Williamsburg Bridge replaced old ones that had become so corroded by the 1980s, the city closed the bridge down. … (FULL STORY)
A new report by the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics finds significantly more young people think sidewalks, bike lanes, and local transit are important to quality of life than do older people. But the survey on attitudes about transportation found that all Americans find “major roads or highways,” and “adequate parking in the downtown or business district” the most important element of “livable communities.”
Ninety-two percent of 18-34 year-olds found sidewalks important, compared to 73 percent of Americans 65 and older. The gap was equally as wide on bike lanes — with 73.8 percent of younger Americans saying they’re important, compared with 51.9 percent of senior citizens. On transit, there was a smaller but still hefty 14-point gap, 80.5 to 66.2 percent.
But 95.9 percent of younger Americans found major roads important and 91.5 percent of older Americans did, a much smaller differential.
Still, the survey findings represent a significant generational shift in attitudes about biking, walking, and transit. … (FULL STORY)
