뉴욕시장 혼잡통행료 징수제안( Mayor Proposes a Fee for Driving Into Manhattan)

블룸버그 뉴욕시장은 만사가 잘 되어 간다고 말하면서 남아 있는 임기를 보내지 않을 것이라고 하면서, 그는 주중 피크시간대(peak hours)에 혼잡통행료 징수를 제안하는 등 뉴욕시의 환경을 보호하기 위한 조치를 제안하였다.

혼잡통행료는 8달러로서 현재 820만이 살고 있는 뉴욕시의 환경, 주거 및 에너지시스템에 대한 부담을 줄이기 위하여 광범위한 127개의 제안 중의 하나이다.

가장 중요한 목표는 2030년까지 온실가스배출을 30퍼센트 가량 줄이는 것이다. 2030년대에 뉴욕시 인구는 최소 100만이 더 증가할 것으로 예상된다고

한다.

분명 많은 주목(반대를 포함하여)을 받게 될 이 제안은 맨해턴 86번가로 진입하는 승용차량에 대하여 8달러, 트럭에 대하여 21달러의 혼잡통행료를 부과하는 것이다.

교통혼잡이 뉴욕도시의 건강, 환경 및 경제 문제에 주범중의 하나라고 시장은 말했다.

“우리는 교통혼잡을 이야기하지 않고는 대기오염을 줄이는 것을 이야기할 수 없다. 우리 도시가 성장할수록 교통혼잡이 우리의 건강, 경제, 환경에 미치는 나쁜 영향은 더 악화될 것이다.”라고 시장은 말했다.

시장이 추진하고 있는 혼잡통행료는 주중 오전 6시부터 오후 6시까지 부과될 예정이다.

다리나 터널을 지나면서 통행료(toll)를 이미 지불한 통근자들은 혼잡통행료가 면제될 것이다.

혼잡통행료를 징수하는 부스(booth)는 새로 설치하지 않고, 자동차번호판을 자동으로 인식하여 운행자들에게 징수통보할 예정이다.

시장은 이 조치를 당장 시행하지 않고, 최소 1년간의 유예기간을 둘 것이고, 이 기간동안 대중교통시설을 잘 정비하여 시민들이 불편을 겪지 않도록 할 것이라고 말했다.

혼잡통행료로 인한 수입은 첫해에 약 4억 달러 정도 예상되고, 이 수입을 대중교통연계시스템 개선을 위하여 사용할 것이라고 말했다.

이 제안에 대하여 환경단체론자들과 대중교통지지자들은 찬성을 하고 있지만, 일부 정치인들과, 트럭회사는 강력한 반대를 하고 있다.

Richard Brodsky 주의원은 이 제안이 누감(regressive)적 조세라면서 반대하고 있다.

그는 “중산층이나 서민층은 통행료를 낼 수 없을 것이고, 다만, 부유층만 감당할 수 있을 것이다.”라고 말한다.

전미트럭회사조합의 대변인인 Clayton Boyce은 “이것은 맨해턴에 있는 소매점뿐만 아니라 트럭회사와 운송회사에게는 정말 큰 문제이다. 페덱스와 UPS을 이용하는 모든 사람들은 이 조치로 인하여 추가비용을 부담하게 될 것이다.”라고 AP 통신에 말했다.

블룸버그 시장은 뉴욕 식당에서의 금연과 트랜스지방(trans fat)을 금지한 조치를 제안한 것으로도 유명하다.

블룸버그 시장은 오늘날 그가 설파한 것들은 실천하는 시장이기도 하다. 그는 거의 매일 지하철을 타고 출근을 한다.

블룸버그 시장의 혼잡통행료는 2003년 런던에서 시행되어 교통혼잡을 상당히 완화시킨 것으로 평가되는 제도를 모방한 것이다. 블룸버그 시장은 비록 어떤 조치들이 처음에 인기가 없다고 하더라도, 도시와 개인들이 그러한 조치를 실천하는 것의 중요성을 이야기 하였다. 

그는 “식당에서의 금연을 예로 들면서, 우리들은 실천했고, 다른 모든 나라들이 우리를 따르고 있다.”라고 말했다. 또한 그는 “우리는 다른 사람들에게 설교하는 것에 관심이 없다. 우리는 단지 우리 도시에 가장 바람직한 것을 하고 있는 것 뿐이다. 우리가 노력의 성과를 얻을 때, 아마 다른 사람들은 우리를 따라올 것이다.”라고 말했다.

Mayor Proposes a Fee for Driving Into Manhattan

Saying that he would not spend his final term in office “pretending that all is fine,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg made a series of Earth Day proposals this afternoon to improve the environment of New York City, including charging a new congestion fee to drivers who come into parts of Manhattan during peak hours during weekdays.

The $8 congestion fee was one of 127 initiatives included in a sweeping plan by the mayor to help the city of currently 8.2 million people cope with an expected surge in population that he said is sure to put a strain on its transportation, housing and energy systems.

“Let’s face up to the fact that our population growth is putting our city on a collision course with the environment, which itself is growing more unstable and uncertain,” the mayor said.

A key objective is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030, by which time the population is projected to grow by at least a million people, he said.

The proposal that is sure to attract the most attention, and possibly objections, is one to impose the $8 fee on car drivers, and $21 for truck operators, to drive in Manhattan south of 86th Street.

The mayor said congestion on the city’s streets is the source of many of the city’s health, environmental and economic problems.

“We can’t talk about reducing air pollution without talking about congestion,” he said.

“As our city continues to grow, the cost of congestion to our health, to our economy and to our environment are only going to get worse,” he said. “The question is not whether we want to pay, but how do we want to pay ? with an increased asthma rate, with more greenhouse gases, with more wasted time, lost business and higher prices. Or do we charge a modest fee to encourage more people to take mass transit.”

The fee the mayor is proposing would only be imposed during the week, between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.. And motorists driving the major highways along Manhattan’s east and west sides would not be fined, so it would be possible to go from Brooklyn to Harlem along Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive without entering the zone.

The fee would be deducted from the tolls commuters already pay to come into Manhattan via the bridges or tunnels.

There would be no toll booths, just a network of cameras that would capture license plate numbers and either charge a driver’s existing commuter account or generate a bill to be paid each time.

The mayor said that about half of the fees would be paid by New York City residents ? and the other half by commuters from surrounding areas. But he pledged not to begin imposing the fee for at least a year, until city officials can upgrade mass transit service into parts of New York City that are currently not well served by the city’s subway or train system.

Revenue from the fees, he said, would generate about $400 million in its first year, money that would be used to make improvements in the transit system.

The proposed fee, known as congestion pricing, is applauded by environmentalists and alternative transportation groups. But there is little doubt that much of the package of proposals will face stiff opposition from local politicians and trucking companies, as well as from the state legislators who will decide whether to approve many aspects of it.

State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky said he opposed the mayor’s proposal for a congestion fee because it is a regressive tax.

“The middle class and the poor will not be able to pay these fees and the rich will,” said Mr. Brodsky, who is chairman of a committee that oversees the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. “There are a lot of courageous things in the mayor’s package, but this one is not very well thought out.”

Clayton Boyce, a spokesman for the American Trucking Association, a national industry group, told The Associated Press, “It will be a real problem for operations for trucking companies and shippers, including all the retailers in Manhattan, which is substantial.”

“And all the people who get FedEx and UPS deliveries will have problems and will bear extra expense, so we definitely see problems with it,” he said.

The mayor, who has become known for his proposals that affect residents’ lifestyles, including a ban on smoking and a ban on the use of trans fats in the city’s restaurants, at one point in the speech joked about how far his own proposals have gone in forcing people to change the way they live.

“Banning trans fats is not enough. We also have to ban all desserts and sweets,” he said, before quickly letting on to his audience that he was only joking.

The mayor spoke, appropriately enough, at the American Museum of Natural History, in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life, under an imposing model of a 94-foot blue whale suspended from the ceiling? the largest model of a blue whale in existence.

Mr. Bloomberg is a mayor who has in many ways practiced what he preached today, riding the subway to work almost everyday. He also pointed out that the museum’s president, Ellen V. Futter, walks to her job everyday.

The mayor’s congestion tax is patterned after one imposed by London in 2003, where government officials say it has significantly reduced congestion. During Mr. Bloomberg’s speech, he played a videotaped message from Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, who congratulated the mayor on his leadership.

Mr. Bloomberg talked about how cities and individuals have to take action, even when those actions may not be initially popular with others.

Like with the smoking ban, he said, “we did it, and whole countries followed us.”

“We’re not interested in preaching to others,” he said. “We’re doing what’s best for our city. And when we reap the benefits, perhaps others will continue to follow.”