Support for Congestion Pricing Was a Misguided Exercise by Politicians
Opinion Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the author/producer’s interpretation of facts and data.
With the never-ending cost-of-living increases in New York, I find it mindboggling that state Sen. Peter Harckham could have championed the inflationary $15 congestion pricing tax ($22.50 without EZ Pass). Even Gov. Hochul acknowledged that the tax would have driven up prices even more across the region.
It’s astonishing to me that Mr. Harckham advocates for policies like congestion pricing, given his constituency is already some of the most taxed people in the nation. The way Harckham votes is as if he doesn’t understand how difficult it is for the average family to survive here, paying some of the highest taxes and fees in the nation, not to mention ever-rising food, gas, insurance and college costs. We’re told it’s for our own good while we suffer increasing costs.
On top of that, this congestion pricing program had already had more than a half-billion dollars spent in equipment – $507 million to be exact – that is supposedly now not going to be used. Or is that the case? Will politicians like Harckham and Hochul implement congestion pricing later when it is more politically convenient?
The money spent on the equipment is a sunk cost, already gone, no matter what policy is implemented going forward. But the taxpayers of New York could have better used that money ourselves.
Mary Pat Campbell
Croton Falls
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