How do you get people to use cars less? Try making driving more expensive.
Support for congestion pricing, a tax designed to mitigate traffic by charging motorists to enter crowded zones, is at a historic high in New York, according to a recent poll from Siena College of 805 registered New York state voters. Statewide, New Yorkers support a congestion pricing plan to reduce traffic and pay for subway improvements by a 52%-to-39% margin.
Support for congestion pricing outweighs opposition across almost every demographic—liberals, moderates, New York City, suburban households, upstate, white, black, latino, every age group, every religion, every income level. Only conservatives and, interestingly, union households are more likely to oppose the measure than to support it. Support for the tax was particularly strong among black (64%) and latino (57%) respondents, as well as among people ages 18 to 34 (63%) and people in the lowest income bracket, less than $50,000 (60%).