AMNY Subway Tracker

Forget a fare hike, what about a fare-free system? Long-time labor mediator and transit advocate Ted Kheel launched his plan today to fund mass transit with a congestion pricing plan on steroids. Kheel's self-funded $100,000 study proposed a $16 fee for cars and a $32 dollar tax on trucks to enter the central business district of Manhattan. Taxi riders would pay a 25 pecent surcharge and parking fees would go up under the plan. Kheel estimates that congestion would decrease, and $4.1 billion would be raised for the MTA (almost a half million more than the agency takes in from its tolls and transit fares). The 93-year-old environmentalist is passing out his plan to the mayor, other officials and, of course, the traffic mitigation commission set to vote on a congestion pricing plan by the end of the month. Check it out for yourself.