Congestion pricing?

With increasing talks about congestion pricing and the plan’s imminent deadline, many differing opinions surround the issue. The mayor’s position has been clear since the beginning – being the mind behind the idea, he is all for it. And anyone following the news knows that Mayor Bloomberg has been pushing for the plan to make it through the state level and enter in competition with other cities to get federal support and funding.Bloomberg is so intent on the plan being accepted, that recently I noticed an ad at a bus stop in my neighborhood. “If we had congestion pricing, your bus would already be here.”Quite blunt, if you ask me. But it also seems like a smart and effective way to reach the people who are most likely to support the plan: the commuters who spend hours each week just waiting for public transportation to get them to their destination. The ad is simple yet clear, and as I looked at the long line of people waiting for the bus I couldn’t help but think that they would all be in favor of Bloomberg’s baby.”Well, put like this, of course, it sounds like a good idea. But who knows if it will really work? We’ve been promised so much by the MTA already, and all we got was increased fares,” said Edith Malrone, who had been waiting for 15 minutes to take a bus home. Another commuter, Lionel Jey, says he supports the plan. “It’s not only gonna get the buses here faster, it’s also going to help with the environment.”On Tuesday, April 8th, the people of New York will wake up and find out whether or not the mayor’s congestion pricing plan made it through a slew of opponents. I can’t wait to see how fast those ads will be taken down should the plan fail to survive.