ERP is a dirty word in Singapore,
The question is if Spore stupid to impose this or Spore has
a vision to impose ERP some 30 years earlier than London
and New York?
Is Spore too earlier or other countries too late to impose
ERP?
Why do NY and London use ERP to use fee to reduce
traffic?This is the ONLY WAY,stupid!!
Who is smarter,but politically incorrect?
NY Mayor aims to price motorists out of
Manhattan
Email this storyPrint this story 9:00AM Saturday May 05,
2007
NEW YORK - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg aims to price
rush-hour drivers out of Manhattan with an $US8 ($NZ11) fee,
borrowing from traffic and air quality strategies used in London
and Singapore.
The fee would be a first in the United States and add an expense to
what is already one of the nation's costliest cities.
The Republican mayor who banned trans fats in restaurant food and
cigarette smoking in bars and restaurants is again promoting what
he calls a health initiative.
"Just take a look at our kids in some of our poor
neighbourhoods who go to hospitals with asthma rates that aree
mayor aims to win over critics by spending the toll
revenue -- around $US500 million a year -- on $US30
billion worth of tunnels, commuter railroads, subways and
buses.
The biggest US city needs these huge projects to meet the demands
of a population forecast to grow by 1 million people to more than 9
million by 2030, Bloomberg said.
A recent survey of 500 drivers by the business group Partnership
for New York City showed 43 percent of commuters favored the fee
and 51 percent were opposed.
Bloomberg aides say they are eager to work with the state of New
York, which won the power to set many city policies in return for a
mid-1970s fiscal bailout.
Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer has said the mayor's strategy
requires "enormous analysis".
Some Democratic and Republican lawmakers have already opposed it,
saying New Yorkers who live outside Manhattan must drive because
subways and buses take too long.
Other suburban lawmakers who represent "bridge and tunnel"
commuters call Bloomberg's plan an outrage because they believe
public streets should stay free of charge.
Long before Earth Day, Bloomberg locked up support from more than
70 business, environmental and civic groups, in part by bundling
congestion pricing with a larger environmental plan that calls for
1 million new trees, additional parks and plazas, and slashing
emissions by 30 percent by 2030.
Officials in London and Singapore consider their schemes a
success, saying drivers have turned to mass transit.
London has used congestion pricing since 2003 and doubled the size
of its zone in February. It now charges 8 ($NZ21.91) pounds, which
converts to about $US16 or twice what New Yorkers would pay.
Traffic is down about 10 percent since the programme started,
London officials say.
Singapore's plan dates to 1975 and charges varying rates throughout
the day that range from about 30 cents to $US1.90.
- REUTERS
---http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10438005
