New York Post - Apple JamToday’s New York Post screams “Apple Jam” on page one and says New Yorkers are “driven nuts” by traffic but does not offer solutions such as a $500 fee and $1 per gallon gas tax for private cars.

“It’s crush hour all day long as record traffic clogs Apple,” says a headline inside.

NYP’s stories offer no solutions and there is no mention of the problem on the editorial page.

However, New Yorkers have some solutions although they are not going to be “politically correct” and may be politically impossible. Perhaps Donald Trump could lead such bold strokes.

The solutions involve selling permits to drivers who want to use their cars in Manhattan and raising the federal tax on gas which has been stuck at 18.4 cents per gallon since 1993.

Subway/Bus Fares Due to Rise

Plans are to raise the monthly bus/subway fare to $121 from $116.50. Single fares would go to $3 from $2.75.

The $121 is an unconscionable burden on the working poor. The subway cost five cents from 1904-48. That is a jump of 60X. Inflation has not been 60X since the 1940s. The fare went to ten cents in 1953 and 50 cents in 1980. Mayor Rudolf Giuliani eliminated two-fare zones in 1997.

Putting a $1 per gallon tax on gas plus requiring a $500 or $1,000 sticker for driving in Manhattan would kill two birds with one stone. The funds could be put into the subway/bus system, cutting fares to below $2 or even $1.

USAToday which says commuters lost 6.9 billion hours, and 3.1 billion gallons of fuel to traffic delays in 2015. Excess fuel and lost productivity cost them $160 billion in 2014, up from $114 billion in 2000. The five worst cities are Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu, New York and Seattle.

Union Seeks New Contract, Makes Threats

A major force behind the bus/subway hikes is 34,000-member Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union which shut down the system three times—12 days in 1966, 11 days in 1980 (despite a new law barring such strikes) and two days in 2005. An airing of labor and other costs of the transportation system is needed.

More than 7,000 TWU members rallied Nov. 15, 2016 outside of MTA h.q. on lower Broadway, demanding a new contract by Jan. 15, 2017. “Without us, the city grinds to a halt,” said TWU Int’l president Harry Lombardo. “We make this city go, and we can make it go in the other direction too,” he added.

Generating the increase in traffic, says NYP, is the boom in apartment and office construction. Lux apartments generate lots of vehicular traffic including cars owned by the occupants, car services, trucks making deliveries, etc. Pedestrian plazas, bike lanes and forbidden left and right turns on streets are making matters worse.

NYP quotes police and firefighters as saying they can’t get through the traffic to handle life-threatening situations.

The federal gas tax has been 18.4 cents a gallon since 1993. A tax of 10 cents or 20 cents could eliminate the need for toll roads, a cause of congestion. A single-payer medical plan is also needed. The ill-health effects caused by cellphones, computers, Wi-Fi routers in classrooms and elsewhere, cell towers, etc., needs to be addressed.