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Comment by Spooky23 | Hacker News Reader

The problem is other stakeholders live in the provinces. NYC transit advocates don’t represent them. NYC is a regional megalopolis.

The commentary here is always focused on the strawman terrible people commuting to lower Manhattan, but there are a million reasons why convenient travel to or through Manhattan is needed.

It’s also unfair to characterize the governor of New York as “some politican”. The MTA and most river crossings are owned by public authorities controlled by the state, and the entirety of the system is dependent on New Jersey Transit and the multi-state Port Authority. Congestion pricing was a state initiative all along.

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The drivers commuting into Manhattan aren't terrible, they're responding totally rationally to the relative monetary and time costs of driving into the city vs park & ride vs living closer. The terrible thing is that the incentives that have been established make driving the right choice for so many people.

> The problem is other stakeholders live in the provinces.

Exactly. People who live in New York City often end up being beholden to the preferences of people who live outside the city.

There are downsides to the culture of localism in New England, but one nice thing is that cities and towns are typically able to prioritize the lives of their own residents which makes them nice places to live.

Maybe in some New England areas.

Greater Boston is a suburban hellscape. If traffic is your Kryptonite, beantown is worse in some dimensions.

NYC prospers today because it’s a regional hub. All of the business that required physical presence (shipping, industry, etc) is long gone.

Also note “the provinces” include NYC itself. I grew up in Queens, and congestion pricing certainly didn’t align with the needs of my relatives who live in the old neighborhood.

> congestion pricing certainly didn’t align with the needs of my relatives who live in the old neighborhood

No doubt, but the question is to what degree the preferences of people who live in Queens should override the preferences of the people who live in Manhattan when it comes to deciding how to manage the streets of Manhattan.

> Greater Boston is a suburban hellscape. If traffic is your Kryptonite, beantown is worse in some dimensions.

For drivers, sure, it seems nearly as bad as NYC. I recall it being congested and confusing the few times I drove through Boston. Though it is nice that they buried some of the highways so you don't have to hear or see as much traffic downtown. But in general my concern is less about the impact on drivers than the impact on neighborhood residents, pedestrians, and cyclists. In some ways the Greater Boston area seems ahead of NYC in that regard.

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