cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/29428294
The first congestion charge scheme for vehicles in the US has come into effect in New York.
Car drivers will pay up to $9 (£7) a day, with varying rates for other vehicles.
Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20250105121822/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjr2wn3zvqvo
SpinScore: https://spinscore.io/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Farticles%2Fcjr2wn3zvqvo
Another commenter shared Tokyo, and I can explain what they did:
Tokyo as a whole made it extremely difficult to own cars. To own one, you need to prove to the government that you have a dedicated parking space. There’s also a high tax on it and on insurance premiums. My Japanese friend told me how his family used to car share with the entire neighborhood. Uncertain if this is a Tokyo thing.
Public transportation is ridiculous. You are always about a 10 minute walk to a subway or bus.
Highways are underground, which encourages cars to get out of the street level.
Wait is this not normal? Because I’m pretty sure this is how it is in my third world country.
Reflecting on this, I’ve been to maybe a dozen cities in the US and this is “technically true” too.
Maybe what I want to say is convenience. In Tokyo, you might take 1-2 trains routes, tops, to get anywhere. Then it’s also a very pleasant walk to get to your destination.
Where In Seattle, Philadelphia, Austin, and New York, those cities have a lot of routes. But then you’re walking in some sketchy places, or it’s next to a highway or wide open parking lots. Some cities don’t even have good routes. Like my city, to get from 20th Street to 100th street, I have to ride to the hub on 1st street, to then take another bus. It’s like an L-shape.
Maybe those cities aren’t big enough. Kyoto, imo, also would fail my convenience test. Where Osaka, another major city, would pass it.