New Yorkers Might Not Be Ready For Congestion Tax

25 May 2007 - 9:00am

A new poll shows that just 37 percent of New Yorkers support Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan, though two-thirds of Manhattan residents support the idea.

"New Yorkers may hate the city's traffic but not enough to back a proposal by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to impose a toll on drivers in midtown Manhattan, according to poll released on Thursday.

Just 37 percent support congestion pricing, part of the mayor's plan to cut city carbon emissions by one-third by 2030, the Quinnipiac University survey said.

Under congestion pricing, an $8 toll would be levied on each vehicle entering parts of Manhattan during peak hours on weekdays.

Some 59 percent think traffic congestion is a very serious problem, and Manhattan residents support Bloomberg's plan by a two-to-one margin, the poll showed.

But fewer than one-third of those surveyed in the city's other boroughs -- the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island -- agree, with many saying congestion pricing would unfairly tax people who live outside Manhattan."

Full Story: New Yorkers oppose proposed traffic toll - survey

Source: Reuters, May 24, 2007

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Invalid Poll On Congestion Pricing

Submitted by Charles Siegel on Fri, 05/25/2007 - 09:36.

from:
http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/05/24/new-quinnipiac-poll-measures-opini...

As a professional market researcher with some experience on polling questions and how they can influence people, let me put this in better perspective:

1. Only 41% say they have read or heard "A lot" about congestion pricing. This suggests that many people can be educated about how this will benefit them.

2. Anytime you ask about a negative like a new tax, you get a negative answer. When you explain how that tax money will be used or put the negative in light of the positive benefits the results can change dramatically. ...

3. The fact that mass transit commuters are against congestion pricing at the same level as car commuters shows this lack of understanding. This is the low hanging fruit to generate support for congestion pricing: Outerborough mass transit commuters.

4. Let's look at the question that was posed to the respondents of this survey:

Some have suggested using congestion pricing to help relieve traffic in Manhattan. Do you support or oppose charging vehicle owners a fee to drive into Manhattan below 86th street on weekdays from 6 AM to 6 PM?

My mentor, Prof. Jon Krosnick would have a field day with this question.

First the only proposed benefit in the question is relieving traffic congestion in Manhattan, not in the outerboroughs that feed all that traffic into Manhattan. This pretty much explains the geographic imbalance of support. Future polls on this should incorporate the proposed use of the money collected for bus and train service into Manhattan.

Charles Siegel