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RSS FeedCongestion pricing: Is it the solution to our traffic problems?
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| Con | 67% | 66 votes | Total: 99 votes | |
| Pro | 33% | 33 votes |
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Add to FavoritesI don't believe that congestion pricing is the answer. Many people are already financially strapped in this country and barely making it from paycheck to paycheck, as it is.
With more employers outsourcing jobs, there is a greater unemployment rate. Hardly any employer gives raises anymore and those that do give such small raises that they don't even come within arms reach of the cost of living as it continually inflates. Many Americans are being retired early which means that they are stuck with a lower fixed income than they made when they were working. And what about the disabled, many of whom can't work. Many of them are living hand-to-mouth just trying to get their prescriptions and medical supplies.
The cost of groceries is skyrocketing; people have to buy expensive clothing and supplies for their children as requested by their teachers, despite a small fortune they pay in school taxes. Add to that the medical bills from shots and examinations that are required before you can even send your child to school. Let's not forget the rising costs of utilities which is at times, staggering.
Basically , I see congestion pricing as just another way for big-brother to cheat the middle and lower classes in this country.
People have to get to work; their kids have to get to school and home again, safely. Many parent's don't live on school bus routes or have access to public transportation. With the crime rate as high as it is in this country; people don't want to send small children out walking to school when they can ensure their safety by taking them. Where I live, I pay a tax for bus transportation and there is no bus route in my area, so I don't even benefit from the tax I am forced to pay.
As an American, I am already taxed more than I can afford; it's all that I can do to keep up with local taxes, much less federal. Don't get me wrong; I pay my taxes; I know that if people didn't, we would be in a great deal of trouble. But, where does the system's abuse of the common taxpayer end?
The number of unemployed, homeless Americans today is startling; can you really expect that many of us to pay a congestion tax just to go out every day and hunt down another job? How can you pay tax when you are unemployed?
With the number of foreclosures so rapidly increasing, do you really expect people to be able to pay a tax to be on the road?
20% less congestion isn't going to save our ozone layer. But try to tell that to the weekend bikers and boaters who flood the atmosphere with carbon emissions from their Hogs and speedboats most weekends of the year. Why do people have to have speedboats when they could enjoy some canoing or kayaking? Why do people have to ride Harley's cross-country when they could git fitter, healthier by riding bicycles? With all of the hype about keeping "fit" today and the outrageous costs of gym memberships; one would think that bikers and boaters would find some way to combine health with their sports! It certainly would save the planet a considerable amount of pollution.
If anyone should be taxed, it should be corporations and their plants that spew tons of waste into the atmosphere every day without regard for those of us who have to breathe it. And what about the harm that the nuclear power plants are causing?
I already pay taxes for roads that in my state are largely so full of potholes, year round that I can't keep my wheels aligned.
When did Americans become anxious to throw away their money. To give it to the state and federal government to waste? And why do we always have to do what other countries do? Aren't we capable of thinking on our own anymore? Doesn't anyone have any original ideas or have our schools so badly failed us that all we feel that we can do is pay out fines and taxes?
I personally, would prefer to give Americans more credit for finding reasonable solutions that we can all afford rather than continuing to rip each other off. Please, it's asinine to even consider congestion pricing; especially when America is in the center of such a financial crises as it is today. It's a blatant slap in the face to every American who is struggling. Especially when there are better, cheaper solutions. One would think that instead of trying to price gouge each other that we would work that much harder to find solutions that are affordable for every American. The level of greed that is building in the world today is simply nauseating and you can call it what you want, but congestion pricing is just another form of greed.
Learn more about this author, M. L. Kiser.
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Pro
While I agree congestion taxes are a way to help the traffic problem, they are not a perfect solution, in addition to a congestion tax, we need to heavily invest in our transportation infrastructure including subsidized public transportation. However, congestion taxes are an important first step.
One of the first and most basic rules of economics is that people respond to incentives. Incentives can either work by making one thing more attractive or by making something less attractive. A congestion tax works by making driving a less attractive prospect in areas where the roads are too full to accommodate the traffic already present. This will, undoubtedly, cause people to, at the least, be aware of their impact in creating more traffic and will, at best, cause them to limit their use of roads at highly congested times.
Congestion taxes also open the door to a host of new options because it creates, immediately, a solid stream of revenue that did not exist before. This allows the state (or city) to finance new options to relieve the stress on the roads. First, and most obvious is to improve road networks. This may be possible for things like state highways, where money is generally geared more towards maintenance than expansion. By having a supplemental source of income through the tax you allow, in time, the congestion to be lessened and thus create the grounds for reducing the tax in time. Thus, the tax incurs a short term bit of financial harm to those who use the road, for a long term benefit.
However, in highly congested cities, this may not be possible. Some roads truly are as big as they can possibly get, and no amount of clever engineering will make them bigger or more efficient. The congestion tax opens up the option of expanding, or creating, a viable mass transit line. Most congested roads that are not highways are cities. Some cities have thriving mass transit systems (New York, Washington D.C., Many European Cities) but many either have no systems aside from a bus line, or insufficient systems. The congestion tax, is properly invested, allows these cities a source of income to invest in better mass transportation and create a positive incentive to use it. Pairing a positive incentive and a negative incentive is generally the best way to accomplish a goal. If you want to reduce congestion you need to both penalize the cause and make other options available. The congestion tax allows that to happen.
No one likes taxes, especially ones that occur frequently and with activities or purchases that are essential. A congestion tax is an important first step to improving our cities so that traffic is no longer the crippling problem that it is today. In time, and with a bit of financial hurt on present commuters, cities will be able to invest in the transportation technologies that help their economy move forward.
Learn more about this author, Bryan Jennings.
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