Truckin'

A study reveals that truck traffic in the New York metro area has increased by 30% since 1998. So, what does that mean to local members of Congress? Time to slap the truckers with more taxes and fees. Congressman Anthony Weiner wants to hit truckers with an additional $20 in tolls for driving through the City during peak periods as part of a four part plan.

Weiner added that the city's river crossings are rapidly becoming more congested. Traffic at the Lincoln Tunnel increased 56 percent in the last nine years.

He proposed a four-point plan to help deal with the truck congestion in the five boroughs, beginning with increasing truck tolls during peak hours and offering incentives for nighttime truck deliveries.

"By increasing truck tolls two or three times the current rate, it will help. Large businesses, like supermarkets, can also easily take deliveries in the evening," Weiner said.

Another step would be to build a cross-harbor, rail-freight tunnel. New York City is the only major city not connected to the national rail system, and as a result, 99 percent of the city's goods must be brought in by truck, Weiner said.

"We want New York City to grow, and we want bustling commerce," he said. "But at this rate we're going to choke on our success."

This is yet another symbol of folks having absolutely no understanding of economics or how and why the truck traffic has increased.

The economy in the region has increased exponentially without any increase in the rail access that would siphon all those trucks off the roads and onto the rails. The truck traffic is indicative of the strong economy in the region that ships goods and services to other parts of the country and around the world. Tagging all those trucks with $20 each time they cross into the City will make those shipping companies think twice about coming to the City in the first place. They might find alternative ports to operate from. There would be less traffic because businesses would go elsewhere instead of paying for the privilege of operating in the City. This will trickle down to every aspect of the City's economy - from the real estate market to restaurants and service industries. The costs will get passed on to everyone living and working in the city because those trucking companies will pass on the costs - they always do.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is currently trying to preserve the region's competitive advantages by dredging the area's waterways so that it can accommodate the latest generation of container ships, including Panamax ships. Those container ships means thousands of jobs and billions in revenues for the region's companies. Does Weiner think that tacking yet more taxes on businesses will keep them in the region or push them to go elsewhere - Baltimore or Boston for example?

Weiner would do better if he put the focus on the need to improve the transit options that will get truckers off the major highways and onto the rail links. Not only would this extend the lifespan of those roads that wont take as much of a pounding due to heavy truck traffic, but it would improve the efficiencies in the region. Thus far, only a tiny fraction of the money needed to build the rail link between Long Island and the rest of the country is there (Brooklyn is part of Long Island folks - look at a map).