The measure is being sponsored in the Assembly by Queens Assemblyman Rory Lancman.
Sen. Kruger noted that the bill offers a “sharply positive contrast” to the original congestion pricing proposal by offering a set of incentives – dubbed “carrots” – to encourage New Yorkers to reduce Manhattan traffic congestion.
According to Sen. Kruger, the legislation aims to do the following:
(1) increase telecommuting;
(2) increasing car-pooling;
(3) shift commercial traffic to non-rush hours; and
(4) greatly expand express bus service to and from Manhattan in Brooklyn and the other boroughs.Sen. Kruger noted that the bill also empowers traffic enforcement agents to issue summonses for “blocking the box,” a prime cause of gridlock in Manhattan, and creates a 20-member commission to study traffic congestion in New York City without any “pre-conceived agenda pushing congestion pricing to the exclusion of other approaches.”
“The beauty of this legislation is that it fosters an idea that all New Yorkers embrace – an end to Manhattan’s paralyzing traffic problem – while eliminating the polarizing and punitive elements of the original congestion pricing plan,” Sen. Kruger said.“Its passage will move New York City forward through the 21st century,” he said.
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