Then it needs to be adjusted so it does not hurt the poor, but does affect those who choose to drive when the subway is an option (even though they may not deign to travel with the masses). It is not a bad thing to make people pay when they indulge their desires.
> If the proponants of this scheme had their way, soon we'd find that only rich
people can afford to drive to Manhattan.
People should bear the cost when an alternative system is available to them. If I want to pollute with a car when I can take a subway, then I should pay for making that choice.
> It amounts to a tax which un-does the progressive nature of the Income Tax
What is wrong with a use tax? A person then is given a choice to save money by not driving.
> You're not going to get everyone onto a subway by charging them; some will just shift their finances
Which is their right to do.
> some will find ways around it (like parking in Brooklyn, what Joseph originally said his concern was)
They should be tightening restriction about who can park in outer borough neighborhoods. Congestion pricing alone will not do the trick, but without the proper application of pain, auto-addled Americans will not abandon their vehicles.
> some will flaunt it like a $100 cheeseburger
There will always be some people who do so.
> you create a new corrupt boondoggle that is not just costly but continues to erode civil liberties
Since when was driving a civil liberty?
> that there's too much congestion, pollution, and misery on the streets of NYC.
Exactly, and making people pay for contributing to such misery is appropriate. People are not going to reliquish their obsessions with cars just because it makes rational sense. Until they feel pain, they will keep on trucking.
> The number of cars in the CBD is virtually unchanged since the early 90s
As I was writing, I was thinking back to the days of my youth in the 60's and 70's. About 1985, I began complaining about the increasing # of cars.
> Yes: the transit situation is actually getting worse in NYC.
Far from it. The N and the D (formerly B) run over the Manhattan Bridge once more as they should. Subways cars are much cleaner and stations better lit than when I was growing up. Is the system perfect? No. But it is very good.
Brian