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NYC Congestion plan down to wire
Kirsten Danis, New York Daily News
Mayor Bloomberg’s traffic-busting plan to charge drivers to enter a large swath of Manhattan came down to the wire today, with Albany powerhouses trying to hammer out a deal behind closed doors while the mayor met with lawmakers in the state capitol.
Bloomberg urged Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) to come to an agreement with Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer) and Gov. Spitzer by the end of the day, the deadline for applying for $536 million in federal transportation money that would help fund the start-up.
Even an agreement in principle, followed by a vote tomorrow, would be enough for the feds, Bloomberg said. But nothing short of that, he warned, will do. Staffers for the four leaders have been meeting all weekend.
“It’s a drop-dead date,” Bloomberg said on an Albany radio show.
Rep. Anthony Weiner, a Democrat who represents parts of Brooklyn and Queens, disputed that today in a meeting with the Daily News editorial board. “They have set up this kind of false deadline and this false notion that this is it for congestion pricing…It could very well be that there will be a check for $600 million tomorrow and $800 million the year after,” said Weiner, who is opposed to the mayor’s plan.
Bloomberg has proposed charging cars $8 and trucks $21 to enter Manhattan below 86th St. on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The ambitious plan would free up traffic and cut down on emissions in the air, the mayor argues. Opponents complain there are too many New Yorkers without decent access to mass transit, and the charge will choke small businesses that get truck deliveries.
(16 July 2007)
A New French Revolution’s Creed: Let Them Ride Bikes
Katrin Bennhold, New York Times
About a dozen sweaty people pedaled bicycles up the Champs-Élysées on Sunday toward the Arc de Triomphe, as onlookers cheered.
These were not the leading riders of the Tour de France racing toward the finish line, but American tourists testing this city’s new communal bike program.
“I’m never taking the subway again,” said a beaming Justin Hill, 47, a real estate broker from Santa Barbara, Calif.
More than 10,600 of the hefty gray bicycles became available for modest rental prices on Sunday at 750 self-service docking stations that provide access in eight languages. The number is to grow to 20,600 by the end of the year.
The program, Vélib (for “vélo,” bicycle, and “liberté,” freedom), is the latest in a string of European efforts to reduce the number of cars in city centers and give people incentives to choose more eco-friendly modes of transport.
“This is about revolutionizing urban culture,” said Pierre Aidenbaum, mayor of Paris’s trendy third district, which opened 15 docking stations on Sunday. “For a long time cars were associated with freedom of movement and flexibility. What we want to show people is that in many ways bicycles fulfill this role much more today.”
Users can rent a bike online or at any of the stations, using a credit or debit card and leave them at any other station.
(15 July 2007)
And at the UK Times: Paris mobilises pedal power to cut traffic and pollution.:
Thousands of Parisians pedalled into Sunday traffic astride stately grey bicycles yesterday after the opening of an ambitious scheme to turn the car-snarled French capital into the eco-friendly City of Bike.
In the hot midday sun, a network of 750 high-tech stations went live, releasing 10,600 bicyclettes at very low cost to anyone with a credit card.
Mayor Bertrand Delanoë’s Révolution de la Bicyclette follows similar schemes in cities such as Lyon, Bar-celona and Stockholm, but it is easily the biggest self-service cycle hire in the world. Another 10,000 bikes will be added by the end of the year.
Cynical citizens, however, predicted packed casualty wards as débutant cyclists fall prey to the scooters, motorcycles and cars that rule the Paris streets.
