Mayor's Congestion Plan Spurs the Question: What's in It for Staten Island?

Staten Island Advance - Tuesday, November 06, 2007

As 26 lined up on Staten Island last night to sound off on Mayor Michael Bloomberg's congestion pricing proposal, two things were clear: Those who oppose the proposal want a promise the Island would benefit from revenues generated by the additional toll, and those who favor it want the same.

To date, no one can give that guarantee, except for a pledge of 33 more express buses on the Island before the fee would begin.

"We represent Staten Island, the district, the borough that is the most under-served by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Department of Transportation, transportation alternatives in general. We feel we have been made to bear the burden for far too long," said Sen. Diane Savino (D-North Shore/Brooklyn). "Regardless of what this commission comes up with, we're still going to have a traffic problem."

Ms. Savino will have a formal say when the state Legislature votes on March 31, 2008, after a recommendation from a 17-member panel studying the mayor's plan. Of the 17 members, none of whom are from the Island, 14 were appointed by politicians in favor of congestion pricing.

Most who testified last night at the College of Staten Island's Center for the Arts expressed skepticism that the mayor's plan -- intended to reduce gridlock, improve air quality and raise money for mass transit improvements -- would benefit the Island's public transportation system enough to justify the extra toll.

The scheme calls for charging cars $8 and trucks $21 for entering and leaving Manhattan below 86th Street between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays.

The borough would see the smallest drop in traffic, .6 percent compared to 6.3 percent in Manhattan, according to figures from the mayor's office.

Because the congestion fee would be offset by existing levies, many Manhattan-bound Islanders would not pay additional tolls. Those who use the free East River crossings and pay only $4.80 for the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge toll with the E-ZPass discount would face a $3.20 spike per round trip.

Unlike other boroughs, where politicians are crying foul over the levy, for Island officials and residents, the contentious issue is another reminder of what they perceive as insufficient mass transit options and a history of neglect.

While most testimonies heard by 11 members of the panel who attended last night's hearing echoed Ms. Savino's skepticism, several said congestion pricing is the Island's only hope for better mass transit options. Dan Icolari, a 30-year North Shore resident who belongs to the not-for-profit Transportation Alternatives group, argued that the plan is the Island's best hope of getting much-needed transportation improvements to deal with notorious gridlock in the borough that is arguably most car-dependent.

"Over time, congestion pricing can help to bring Staten Island's use of mass transit more in line with that of the other boroughs," Icolari said.

Meagan Devereaux, the chief of staff for Borough President James Molinaro, testified in favor of a cross-harbor tunnel, which advocates say would remove as many as 775 trucks a day from the Staten Island Expressway, and achieve a 14 percent reduction in Verrazano traffic.

The link from Jersey City to Brooklyn got a boost last month when the Port Authority announced a plan to spend $100 million in federal funds to continue an environmental analysis of the project.

By Sally Goldenberg and Maura Yates
Reprinted here with permission from the