[lbo-talk] NY blocks mayor's congestion plan

Michael Smith mjs at smithbowen.net
Tue Apr 8 07:21:07 PDT 2008


On Tuesday 08 April 2008 10:06:31 Jordan Hayes wrote:


> recent automation of tolls drives the
> price up

One would like to see some evidence for this claim. Automation generally makes things cheaper, does it not?


> It seems to me that you can't call a tax 'progressive' unless you're
> absolutely sure that it's targeting higher incomes to the benefit of
> lower ones. Congestion pricing fails this test easily.

Maybe I missed it, but did anybody argue that the congestion charge was a "progressive tax"? This seems rather a straw man. It's not a tax of any kind, pro- or re-. It's a *price* paid for the enjoyment of a service. Like the subway fare, or the toll on the George Washington Bridge. Nobody argues that these constitute "regressive taxes."



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