Point: parking permits are needed. Counterpoint: oh no, they're not

The permit system would have many negative ripple effects on the community. It could hurt local businesses and make it harder for local residents to receive visitors.

By Anthony Perez Cassino   

The plan to charge motorists to drive into parts of New York City during workdays has awakened the public like few other ideas. It seems that everyone has a strong opinion about congestion pricing.

New Yorkers have flooded newspapers with letters extolling the virtues and evils of the plan, and public hearings on the topic have been no less impassioned. To that extent I think congestion pricing has been a tremendous success.

We need a vigorous public debate about the future of our city's roads and public transportation system. We also need bold solutions to address the serious problems ahead.

After participating in numerous hearings and debates on the topic, I remain a supporter of the plan - but not without certain reservations.

The commission created to review the plan and make recommendations recently proposed moving the zone to below 60th street. I think this is a vast improvement from the initial proposal to start it farther uptown. However, I continue to be concerned about the cost.

In London, where they have had congestion pricing since 2003, the price has already gone up from about $10 to $16. We need to implement a process that ensures that the cost cannot be easily raised without public input. The same needs to be done to prevent the expansion of the zone and its hours (to nights and weekends). I expressed those reservations in my testimony before the commission in October 2007.

In addition, we need to make sure that New Jersey motorists pay the same as Bronx motorists and I would like to see detailed plans for improving public transportation in our area. It has also been suggested that one of the worst unintended consequences of congestion pricing is that it will turn the neighborhoods outside of the zone into parking lots by motorists seeking to avoid the fee.