The Boston City Council tomorrow considers whether to let Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson (Roxbury) start up some formal consideration of a proposal for "congestion pricing" as a way to ease gridlock on Boston roads caused by narrowing car access because of bicycle and bus lanes - and maybe even provide enough revenue to help improve public transit.
Anderson will ask the council to assign her proposal to a council committee for a public hearing and drafting of a possible ordinance or home-rule petition to begin charging people who drive along designated roads at particular times in the city.
In her hearing request, she notes New York City and New Jersey are considering rush-hour pricing, which is already used in some European cities
A set fee placed on drivers of various vehicles could bring money and resources toward other elements of the community, reduce traffic, increase transit use and improve air quality, creating environmentally and eco-friendly solutions, as well as functioning as a tangible solution for those feeling preyed upon and thinking that the city is not hearing their feedback.
She writes Boston's infamous traffic woes have only been exacerbated by bike and bus lanes:
Numerous constituents have voiced concerns over the narrowing of streets, due to added bus and bike lanes as well as the rise in vehicular traffic. n Furthermore, the placement of buses in the center of streets exacerbates traffic by restricting space for cars and trucks to maneuver effectively. Narrow and congested streets pose challenges for emergency ambulances navigating already congested areas.
The council's regular Wednesday meeting begins at noon, in its fifth-floor chambers at City Hall.
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Comments
I'm really glad to see this
By spin_o_rama
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 10:18am
Lets not forget, congestion caused by motor vehicle traffic that blocks emergency vehicles has existed long before the bus and bike lanes were installed.
And if people only didn't part in the reserved lanes...
By jborrow
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 10:31am
... The ambulances could use them too.
Theres a great video from NYC
By spin_o_rama
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 11:20am
Ambulance using the two way bike lane to bypass motor vehicle traffic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF8u7_Tiqzo
(its labeled as dangerous but I do disagree, it can be used safely in emergencies as shown here)
Whoever designed the bike
By Heather
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 10:48am
Whoever designed the bike lanes in the south end is crazy! I for one wouldnt ride my bike in that space, with tall posts on one side of me and a curb on the other. It's sad, because they ripped up the streets for years to make this monstrosity in an historical neighborhood.
"this monstrosity in an historical neighborhood"
By spin_o_rama
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 11:11am
Something else was ripped up from the streets and replaced with monstrosities that we see today in that historical neighborhood.
(In my opinion, to be fair!)
Take your bike to a trail or track
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 02/14/2024 - 9:20pm
Or even a parking lot. Practice with it until your skills improve, and the lane won't bother you so much.
Enjoy the empty failed, . . .
By g
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 11:58am
DTX Mall and equally empty Faneuil Mall.
When's the last time you were in either location?
By spin_o_rama
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 12:03pm
Be honest, thanks!
Last week
By g
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 12:18pm
And you?
Yesterday!
By spin_o_rama
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 12:33pm
Wouldn't describe either area as dead or failed but hey, to each their own!
Lotta people at North Station last night for the Beanpot too. Is that another failed location that no ones going to?
Try
By g
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 3:01pm
About 10-11:00 am or 2-3:00 pm or after 7:00 most evenings.
No problem landing a small plane at dtx.
Pretty specific windows of time there
By spin_o_rama
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 3:12pm
How often have you been observing activity during those hours?
On that same line of reasoning, you could land a small plane on the Pike in Allston around some of those times, certainly late at night, no?
Dodged my question about North Station though, obviously you weren't in net for the Huskies last night.
Just giving some examples
By g
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 3:59pm
Of times I was there.Don't go to Faneuil mall much. No reason to go. But I do go by it.
You are right though. I was not in net for northeastern. Good guess.
Ah ok
By spin_o_rama
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 4:16pm
Small sample size, you don't go there much but you go there enough to draw those conclusions that its dead.
What about North Station?
Thanks!
Horse hockey
By Ari O
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 10:34am
This is just … not a thing. Traffic is caused by bottlenecks, not because there isn't enough pavement. Citation: the Harvard Bridge was reduced from 4 to 2 lanes and … traffic didn't get any worse, because the traffic there isn't caused by the number of lanes but upstream and downstream constricted areas.
There are vibes and there are data, this is vibes. Come on.
(Bus lanes and bike lanes also move way more people per linear foot, so are far more efficient.)
I'm all for congestion pricing, there are some relatively easy ways to do it:
1) Toll 93 the same way that you toll the Harbor bridges and tunnels and Turnpike. Why should how much it costs to drive depend on what direction you approach the city from? Especially since we charge more for people from Massachusetts on the Pike, while 93, especially from the north, is populated with a lot of Granite Staters freeloading off our economy so they can save money on taxes and not wear their seatbelts.
2) More focused: tax downtown parking like every other city in the country. This mostly hits people driving in on weekdays.
3) Since tolls are all electronic, you could put gantries in a few other areas (i.e. river crossings of the Charles and Neponset) and then sort of say "if you pay one toll you get one free." So if you pay a toll on the Pike we won't hit you again if you get off in Allston, cross into Cambridge, and come back across the BU Bridge. Or have several gantries along 93, if you hit any of them, you pay a toll, but if you hit more than one, it's the same toll; this keeps people from trying to get off the highway to skip the toll.
I mean, yeah. There are about 175,000 daily vehicles on the Southeast Expressway and a similar number on 93 north of the city. 350,000 vehicle each paying a toll equal to what Turnpike and Harbor travelers pay ($1.25) generates $160 million per year (more, probably, assuming that trucks pay more; also, tolls should probably go up with inflation). Not everything the T needs, but not a drop in the bucket.
But, oh, noes! The poor people driving to work can't afford this!
$2.50 is 10 minutes of work at minimum wage (and if you're making minimum wage, you're probably paying minimal tax with the EITC). For most people who "need" to drive to work, wages are significantly higher. Funding better transit which will provide more time-competitive transit for those who don't "need" to drive will improve conditions for everyone. People driving are wealthier than people on transit, this is not regressive, don't @ me.
Also, carpooling exists
By fungwah
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 3:39pm
For some reason people always forget that cars have multiple seats, a $2.50 toll is even less when you find some other people going into the city and split it 5 ways.
We have HOV lanes already to encourage carpooling.
By jomidi
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 5:17pm
Has that worked?
They work for me.
By Lee
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 8:13pm
.
Maybe not enough, but
By fungwah
Wed, 02/14/2024 - 10:11am
If you're going to complain about the cost of tolls without actually taking the obvious measures to alleviate those costs, well...
Just to clarify one point,
By Michael Ellis Day
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 10:36am
Just to clarify one point, New York City is not "considering" congestion pricing. It is a done deal, it is approved at every level, it is happening. It's being held up right now by a succession of frivolous pandering lawsuits (glares at the entire state of New Jersey) but every level of government that needs to approve it has done so. They're currently saying to expect a launch in June but who knows:
https://www.crainsnewyork.com/transportation/nyc-c...
I'm Ok With Congestion Pricing
By John Costello
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 10:39am
I can afford it.
Less traffic for me to be caught in. Win win.
I appreciate the monster raving imbecilic Ho Chi Minh supporter doing this. Makes driving to work faster and thereby saves me money.
That is a potential logical
By Matt_J
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 10:52am
That is a potential logical conclusion of this plan. The wealthy will benefit from less traffic while other will be taxed to travel to Boston.
It is bascially a tax on travel.
Maybe
By cybah
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 1:04pm
but if these fees are used to fix the T (ok I can dream), we would have a functioning transit system with great headways and went everywhere that would backfill the need for the lower and middle classes to drive into the city.
Why is the city keeping
By Ben
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 10:40am
Why is the city keeping bicycle lanes that no one rides in? The bike lane running through the Back Bay on Beacon Street has zero bikes most days of the week. Not just a few. Zero.
I ride it every day
By tjridesbikes
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 11:10am
It’s invaluable to me for getting to and from work. I ride year-round and it keeps me safe. I already pay gas tax, excise tax, and registration fees for my car, and I pay my city taxes as a resident, so I think that I deserve some space on a public road, just like you. Of course, I could always just drive and double-park on Beacon, but you probably wouldn’t like that either.
Funny how you say nobody uses it. When I’m on my bike, I’m consistently not the only one using the bike lane.
Since so many people want to park their cars on Beacon, perhaps we should remove another car lane and make it a parking zone!
Honesty at last.
By g
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 11:47am
"as a way to ease gridlock on Boston roads caused by narrowing car access because of bicycle and bus lanes"
Bus, Bike lane, congestion pricing.
Better get the Clown Heads ready 'cause no one will be downtown.
You're wrong
By HenryAlan 2.0
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 11:56am
4 excellent points.
By Lee
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 1:26pm
Thanks.
I mean two can play the willful ignorance game
By spin_o_rama
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 1:20pm
https://twitter.com/gazzabiker/status/175724672663...
Goose, gander, etc
I ride every day as well
By dwhogan
Wed, 02/14/2024 - 11:06am
Riding in has been so liberating. I love passing all of the traffic congestion and not only experiencing no stress on my commute, but actually reducing my overall stress by getting a free workout on my way in and out of work. I spend about 50$/month on gas (93 octane to boot) and can take the T if roads are really bad.
What I would say is that having centralized corridors for biking (Somerville does this) that eliminate unnecessary/underused bike lanes while fortifying central corridors with some lane sharing options on side streets branching out, might be a better solution.
You also have to remember: A) it's winter time, get back to me about utilization in May. B) we're only a few years into there even being better bike infrastructure. It takes time for people en masse to adapt to stuff like this. I do think that more and more people are realizing that bicycling into the city is far superior to commuting. With E-Bikes becoming more widely available, that's only going to increase.
Our planet is fucking dying, and Americans are dealing with unprecedented levels of stress and anxiety. I'm a public health social worker and I see all sorts of reasons why people experience stress. Road rage is a big one, and with folks spending 100$/week to fill up their unnecessarily large, resource depleting luxury sports utility vehicles that block the road for others, and are pretty damned cumbersome to drive in a congested city, it's pretty easy to see the ways that stuff like that feeds stress little by little every day.
I'd support congestion pricing with an added cost for large non-commercial vehicles as they contribute even more to wear and tear of our infrastructure, are far more polluting, and generally suck to be around.
you don't want to see them
By cinnamngrl
Wed, 02/14/2024 - 1:10pm
So they keep dying.
You don't see what you don't want to see
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 02/14/2024 - 9:21pm
Very disturbing that you "don't see" cyclists.
You are either parroting some carbrained talking points OR you need a vision check.
Plenty to see here: https://mhd.ms2soft.com/tdms.ui/nmds/dashboard?loc...
Let's make the back bay and
By Heather
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 10:47am
Let's make the back bay and downtown open to busses, taxis and ride shares only!
no private cars
By cinnamngrl
Thu, 02/15/2024 - 7:15am
full time drivers pay for livery plates.
You need good public transportation
By jomidi
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 10:48am
If you want people to stop driving, then you need to have a healthy MBTA (including commuter rail). People need to get into the city, and if you don't want them to drive, you need to give them reliable alternatives.
"People need to get into the
By g
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 11:50am
"People need to get into the city"
I think that "People" are showing they don't need to to get into the city.
This proposal will kill downtown.
The city?
By spin_o_rama
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 11:55am
Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.
Haha!
By Lee
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 1:28pm
.
Roughly 40 percent less than prepandemic
By g
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 3:06pm
Guess you are ok with that and the enormous revenue drain that Boston faces.
Interesting stat
By spin_o_rama
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 3:45pm
Could you cite that?
What factors do you think caused that?
Ok
By g
Thu, 02/15/2024 - 7:32am
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/02/15/business/of...
https://commonwealthbeacon.org/government/drop-in-...
Also speaking of revenue "drain"
By spin_o_rama
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 3:51pm
https://www.boston.gov/departments/budget/fy24-loc...
And yet
By ScottB
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 5:39pm
FY23 local revenue was down by over 25% from FY19, and that's just in nominal dollars, not accounting for the impact of inflation. Not just that, but close to 10% ($40 million) of the FY23 "local revenue" was ARPA money from the Feds.
Oh yeah I read that
By spin_o_rama
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 6:58pm
Are those numbers enormous? I dunno, I'm not an economist.
OP saying there is an almost 40% drop in activity in DTX, didn't cite anything. Said there is an enormous drop in revenue. Is there? Help me out here.
Manhattan can do this because
By Matt_J
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 10:51am
Manhattan can do this because it is an island and there are a fixed number of entry points. Are they going to put tolls on all roads that lead into Boston, or just the highways?
Could I get on at RT9 in Newton / Natick and the back roads of Dorchester to get into Boston from the West or South?
Is this for downtown or all of Boston proper? Is this to be applied to non Boston residents or all residents? How would the system know, unless they will track every car that enters Boston either through license plate readers or toll booths? What about the privacy implications of tracking all cars all the time (more so than they are already tracked).
London can do this because
By Pete X
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 10:59am
there was political will to do it. It is most certainly not an island.
All the questions you raised have been dealt with before in other cities. These are good questions that can be answered by a careful system design, these are not reasons NOT to do congestion pricing.
London, famously an island (well its on one but whatever)
By spin_o_rama
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 11:08am
Good place to start on some potential answers to your questions, not all though to be fair!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_congestion_ch...
There is plenty of time to hash out those details, get public feedback and develop something thats equitable for all. Some won't like it but we need to do something about traffic congestion.
London - Like Paris Has This Thing
By John Costello
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 11:15am
It's called a real transit system.
Trains that have 4 minute max headways and crap like that.
That may have to be dealt with here first.
Thats fair
By spin_o_rama
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 11:25am
Not a point OP brought up but I appreciate the respectful manner that you've introduced it with.
The T, well thats a bigger debate and issue with Beacon Hill's lack of meaningful legislation and decades of poor funding/management at the T. I see a City making plans to enact something soon, like the Bus Lanes, to address traffic and public transit.
My concern is the pleas to deal with the T first are in bad faith because thats not getting fixed anytime soon.
Been commuting into Boston
By Matt_J
Tue, 02/13/2024 - 11:25am
Been commuting into Boston for over 20 years, after 10 years of taking the T into Boston, 8 years ago I started driving. Not only was it faster, it was cheaper, and a much more enjoyable ride.
The cost of parking at the T along with the cost of monthly pass was more expensive than driving in and parking (paid monthly parking though work). Most importantly it saved me 45 minutes door to door on the commute. It had the added plus of not being crammed in a hotbox of a subway car or commuter rail train.
The T needs to be better, like Paris, before you can fully embrace the car free roads.
(Lets be real, many here are pushing for this because they are anti car in general, in favor of bikes or public transit).
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