PRESS RELEASE
March 24, 2008
Larry Parker, Public Relations/Communications Coordinator
212-961-1000 x314 (office)
732-887-3505 (cell)
larry@weact.org
WE ACT IDENTIFIES KEY ISSUES ON CONGESTION PRICING
Report with The Earth Institute Answers Northern Manhattan Concerns
NEW YORK – WE ACT for Environmental Justice, Harlem’s leading advocate for environmental justice for two decades, held an event at City Hall this morning with City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito to lay out key conclusions from a study WE ACT commissioned, to determine how to mitigate impacts on Northern Manhattan which might be caused by the proposed congestion pricing plan for Lower and Midtown Manhattan.
The joint study by WE ACT and The Earth Institute of Columbia University, to be addressed by WE ACT Executive Director and Co-Founder Peggy Shepard and Sustainability Policy Coordinator Stephanie Tyree in testimony before the Council today, and produced with the support of the Ford Foundation and New York Community Trust, was designed to answer concerns about the congestion pricing plan expressed by residents, elected officials and members of Community Boards 9, 10, 11 and 12, covering East, Central and West Harlem, along with Washington Heights and Inwood. The key findings of the study noted:
· Most workers would find it too inconvenient to park-and-ride from Northern Manhattan to jobs, as most current off-street lots are operating at more than 90% capacity;
· Subways in Northern Manhattan are already overcrowded or nearly so, but new lines and cars cannot be added without full funding of the MTA’s capital plan; and
· Improved bus service MUST be implemented citywide prior to congestion pricing.
In response to those findings and to previously expressed community concerns, particularly about expansions of bus service, the study suggested the following preventive measures:
· Using zoning powers to restrict new off-street parking lots and the expansion of existing off-street lots near transit stations in Northern Manhattan;
· Endorsing the MTA’s plan for bus rapid transit (BRT) service on 125th Street and including 125th Street in the city’s Congested Corridors program;
· Equitably allocating the new MTA bus depots around the city that will be required for the additional bus service congestion pricing will require;
· Finding dedicated funds to fully fund the MTA’s capital plan for new bus and subway service, starting with dedicating virtually all of the funds raised by congestion pricing to transit through a “lockbox” system; and
· Addressing subway capital needs not only on the East Side with the Second Avenue Subway, but also on the West Side by expanding capacity on the 1, 2, and 3 lines.
WE ACT also endorsed the congestion pricing plan’s proposals to allow Northern Manhattan neighborhoods to establish Residential Parking Permit (RPP) programs for street parking, to expand park-and-ride lots in the suburbs; and to carefully monitor neighborhood conditions prior to the start of any plan, as was done in London, where congestion pricing originated.
Overall, WE ACT endorsed the congestion-pricing plan, and Shepard applauded Mayor Bloomberg for providing the initial impetus to and strongest support for the plan. “I believe the Mayor has understood the depth of the challenges before us, and has developed a plan that engages communities and resonates throughout our neighborhoods, which welcome improved air quality, increased access to open space, and reliable, clean energy,” she said.
###