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Comment by lmm | Hacker News Reader

Not in NYC where less than half the population has access to a car.

This mostly commuters and tradesmen. You aren’t going to get your tools on the train, snd you are driving into the city from white plains or somewhere similar.

The alternative is the tradesmen can now apply their trade for 30 minutes more each way rather than sit in traffic (probably better overall) That, and apparently they and their kids can breathe easier.

Tradesmen pass the charge onto their customers. Commuters already have to pay huge parking fees, by comparison the congestion charge is small change.

> Tradesmen pass the charge onto their customers

You mean to say people without cars are paying the congestion tax? :P

Likely not. Reduced congestion decreases transit time which can easily pay for the conjestion charge.

The people who are hiring tradesmen are disproportionately the rich.

I mean it's funny to say but I think it should be pretty obvious to anybody that tradesmen are not the only people driving into NYC.

But yeah, customers pay the congestion tax for the tradesmen to drive just like they pay the tariff taxes on the supplies the tradesmen use.

Ya, definitely, I didn’t mean to imply otherwise.

The congestion tax has far more impact on people who live and work above 60th or in the outer boroughs or NJ than it does Manhattanites. Retail, wholesale, trades, small businesses and yes commuters in these areas, which are poorer than Manhattan, suffer disproportionately

Actual poor people suffer the most from air population. They are the ones who live next to busy roads...

Any evidence for that impact? While the prospect of displaced traffic was very much hyped, the data I've seen is that there's very little of it.

If air pollution dropped 22% then surely traffic dropped by a similar amount

2.90 is pretty accessible

The 2.90 is even capped at $34 per week. Then there's the 50% discount for low-income NYC residents who qualify and apply for the Fair Fares NYC program, or for anyone regadless of residence who qualifies for reduced fares through age or a qualifying disability.

Both of these numbers are changing in early January to $3 and $35 respectively, but same idea.

Still, some European countries like Germany offer far cheaper than this, while others like the UK are probably pricer. NYC public transit gives very good value for the US at least.

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