Eh, I don't think so.
New Yorkers were surprised to see Hochul announce that congestion pricing was on indefinite hold. People have translated that into "dead". I don't think so. I would like to believe the Hochul or someone in her circle read my posts on the matter and woke up. However; I doubt that, partially since I have not seen any traffic from Albany. That said, I am not sad to see it put off. The more days without tolls the better. That said If NYC congestion pricing is to go forward, it needs to have the following done:
1) Move the camera from 60th Street to 57th. Nobody trying to use the Queensboro bridge should be tolled because the bridge has no exit that directly enters a highway. The planners knew it and wanted to implement a toll on that bridge and this was how they got it.
Shame on them. Kill that.
2) It's congestion pricing. There is no reason to have the toll in effect after rush hours. The fact that this tax exists 24/7 365 exposes it as the money grab that it is. I could possibly understand early nights for Thurs-Fri, but other than that, by 8PM, the tolls should be off for the day. Weekends should not be tolled unless there is some event.
The former comments are only IF congestion pricing must happen. I don't think it does. If NYC is serious about reducing congestion, it would drop the hammer on Uber and Lyft. The numbers of TLC plates I see on the road is infuriating. I have been in situations where every car around me (immediate) was an Uber or Lyft. Uber and Lyft put people who would have taken public transport and puts them in a private vehicle.
While there are many arguments against the medallion system, the one thing it didl, was reduced the number of cabs in NYC. That was on purpose. First it guaranteed a living wage for drivers which has now been decimated. Secondly it kept the number of cabs on the road in check. You wanna put a congestion price in effect, have it on Ubers. They should pay the top tier of the toll not trucks making deliveries and other things that cannot be done a different way. Folks in an Uber can [often] take public transport. Get them back on the buses and subways and the MTA gets it's money.
If the city and the MTA are truly short on money rather than say, mismanagement, then the thing that should be done is to a flat tax on all city residents. All city residents benefit from roads whether they drive or not. Lets just fund it via a tax and end ALL tolls in NYC including the GWB and Lincoln Tunnel.
Enforce the law against fare evasion. You all are cracking down on people hiding their license plates to avoid bridge and tunnel tolls (and foolish speed cameras) but folks can hop a turnstyle or whatever they are using without much of anything. Why? Oh they're poor. You know what? Poverty is not an excuse to fare beat.
So what is Hochul up to? Well I understand she wants a tax. It could be that but I seriously believe she's using congestion pricing as a bargaining chip for something else. I'd be very glad to see congestion pricing tossed completely (along with these speed cameras and lowered speed limits) but I don't see how the city paid for those cameras and maintenance contracts to totally backing out.
