Council Approves Congestion Pricing

In a 30-20 vote, the New York City Council approved a congestion pricing plan for Manhattan. Opposition to the plan had been fierce and this is a major coup for Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

I made a map (below) of the vote results by district. Green indicates a yes vote, red no; the yellow district's member was absent and the orange district is currently vacant.



The geographical distribution of votes was largely as expected: every councilmember from Manhattan voted yes, as did every member from the Bronx, where institutional support for congestion pricing is strong and significant MTA service improvements are promised with its proceeds. In the other outer boroughs, members voting yes tended to be either from (1) close-in districts with excellent public transit and few drivers to the CBD, or (2) specific areas that have been promised improved transit (e.g. Flushing, F-Train Brooklyn).

Members from other outer-borough districts tended to vote no; many of these districts have relatively poor public transit access and a higher concentration of drivers to the Manhattan CBD. The stereotypical drive-to worker in Manhattan may be an investment banker in a luxury sedan; however, many public sector employees in Manhattan get free or heavily subsidized parking and so are incented to (1) move to transit-poor neighborhoods in south Brooklyn, eastern Queens or Staten Island and (2) drive to work. For obvious reasons, these folks are not keen on the congestion charge, and their representatives on the council were most likely to oppose it.