The Green Mayor (of NYC)

Photo of Mayor Bloomberg from Streetsblog.

I am not a big advocate for a congestion charge for DC, because frankly, most of our roads aren't seriously congested. Sure 14th Street NW is, and I Street NW ever since Pennsylvania Avenue was closed. K Street, uh huh. But for the most part, for most of the day, DC roads aren't congested. Suburban roads are where the congestion is. (More about that later.) Not to mention the politics of getting a congestion charge approved.

What I am proposing in my paper is that we do what they do in Portland and Eugene, Oregon -- a withholding tax on income for transit. (Mass Transit District Payroll/Excise Taxes) This is used to help fund transit. It Portland, it helps to pay for Fareless Square. 70% of the jobs in DC are held by non-DC residents. So let's tax them strictly to support transit.


Now I think that it would be hard to do, because DC can't charge income taxes to commuters, but somehow, this might be palatable.

Anyway, here's some coverage on Mayor Bloomberg:

-- Mayor Proposes a Fee for Driving Into Manhattan from the New York Times
-- How Green is our Mayor, from Streetsblog