NY Rejects NYC Congestion Tax on Truckers

I'm sure you've all heard of New York's proposal to tax vehicles traveling into New York City during working hours. I have a daughter who lives in Brooklyn, so I've spent some time navigating the streets of Manhattanand the neighboring boroughs. It's like crawling through a parking lot filled with rejects from the local high school driver's ed class! I can appreciate NYC's concerns about traffic congestion and exhaust pollution, but saddling truckers with a congestion tax just isn't right. We pay more than our fair share of fuel and road taxes,and we don't get to choose our delivery times. We work the same hours as everyone else. It's just not fair to single out truckers. Fortunately, the NY State Legislature agrees. This week they rejected a proposal that would have charged truck drivers $21 to enter the city between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays. The decision was applauded by the American Trucking Associations.

"Like many areas of the United States, New York's transportation networks are strained, and the city is searching for a solution to its problem," said ATA president Bill Graves. "But congestion pricing schemes are unfair, ineffective and ignore our real transportation needs. While there is a need to heavily invest in infrastructure, congestion pricing does little to relieve congestion and is merely a revenue raiser." Amen!