[URBANTH-L]Congestion Pricing event in NYC: December 10th@ 6:30pm

[Rachel Heiman]

EQUAL TOLLS, UNEQUAL ACCESS?: CONGESTION PRICING AND ITS HISTORICAL
ANTECEDENTS (see attached flyer)

December 10, 2007 @ 6:30pm 

“Congestion pricing” -- the idea that private cars should pay a
steep fee to enter the urban core - is at the center of the battle over
the future of urban life. While the debate often focuses on excessive
exhaust fumes, crumbling infrastructure, unending traffic, and the
burden of increased taxes, we have not yet grappled with a profound
issue at stake: the free mobility of citizenry that forms one of the
foundations of egalitarianism. Historically, the modern state aimed to
eliminate private tolls in favor of equal access for all classes of
society. In theory, congestion pricing brings us further away from the
egalitarian ideal. And yet there is an undeniable traffic problem that
itself threatens equality of access for all citizens to the city. 

This panel brings together historians and urban visionaries to consider
these and other philosophical underpinnings of the potential shift
toward congestion pricing as a new mode of urban planning and
governmental regulation. Panelists include Jean-Christophe Agnew,
Professor, American Studies, Yale University; Charles Komanoff,
environmental economist, New York City; Jeffrey Risom, urban designer,
Gehl Architects of Denmark and consultant to NYC's PlaNYC; and Jeffrey
Zupan, Senior Fellow, Regional Plan Association. Moderated by Rachel
Heiman, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Bachelor’s Program and
Department of Social Sciences, The New School. Sponsored by the
Bachelor's Program at The New School with support from Mellon
Foundation.

Location:
The New School, Wollman Hall, Lang Building, 5th floor (enter at 66
West 12th Street)
Admission: Free; no tickets or reservations required; seating is
first-come first-served