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Rally founder Numaan Akram, a mass mobility leader, advocates for the recently paused congestion pricing plan and offers solutions for Manhattan’s transit dilemma, including bus rideshares.
NEW YORK, July 31, 2024 (Newswire.com)
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Rally OurBus, the revolutionary Mass Mobility as a Service (MaaS) company, supports the MTA’s recently halted congestion pricing plan that would have contributed millions of dollars to the transit system in New York City. Founder Numaan Akram believed the tax program is an essential step to rely more on mass transit and reduce traffic issues in Manhattan, where vehicles contribute significantly to congestion and environmental strain.
Akram said increasing the congestion tax could create more space for alternative transportation. “We want to express our support for this tax as a mass mobility company even though we will be charged this toll. We are ok with it because it supports mass transit. This tax has been contemplated for years.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul directed the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to pause a toll program that could be a financial bonanza, estimated at $15 billion. The MTA projected it could generate about $1 billion annually and use the funds for subway, bus, and commuter rail network improvements.
The congestion pricing plan was overwhelmingly approved by the MTA board and scheduled to begin May 30, with cars charged an additional $15 when entering Manhattan at or below 61st Street and trucks charged between $24 and $36, depending on size.
The cost of gridlocks in Manhattan includes $20 billion a year in wasted time and lost productivity. Each driver loses 117 hours on average stuck in traffic every year, in addition to almost $2,000 in lost productivity. Currently, 700,000 vehicles are entering the area every weekday. According to the MTA’s report on the matter, the toll would have resulted in 100,000 fewer vehicles entering the congestion zone every weekday and decreased crowding in the most congested district in the country. There has been no announcement of a new start date for the plan. The program was signed into law by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2019.
“Let’s increase the parking tax 10 times, double the size of every sidewalk, install protected bike lanes on every road, reserve spots for taxis to pick up and drop off on every block, block off key streets for express buses, and refresh every subway station and build a hundred more,” said Akram. Rally OurBus is an on-demand bus travel company that creates event-based bus rideshares and regularly scheduled intercity routes through thousands of small private bus operators and allows people to create or find crowdsourced bus trips. Akram said the congestion pricing plan offers many potential benefits to urban transport.
According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the program would reduce rates for vehicles entering the district from one of the four tolled tunnels, speed the movement of emergency vehicles and provide a discount plan for qualifying low-income drivers. Emissions would also decrease by having fewer vehicles on the road and seeing an increase in transit ridership via subway, bus, and rail services.
A 2017 analysis by the Community Service Society (CSS), the city’s leading anti-poverty organization, investigated the impact of congestion pricing and found only 4% of working residents from the outer boroughs (Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island) commute to Manhattan by car, with 56% using public transit to go to work. The funds generated from the program would benefit residents with infrastructure improvements. The study also found that the congestion fee would affect only 2% of the low-income people.
For information on Rally, please visit https://rally.co, and to learn more about bus rideshares, check out https://ourbus.com.
About Rally
Rally is a bus rideshare company with a platform that creates on-demand bus trips across many U.S. cities, Canada, and other countries. Riders generate a trip or choose from one of the many crowdsourced trips. Whether for a concert, a sporting event or a festival, Rally unites passionate people, making the journey part of the event-day experience.
OurBus uses AI to create regularly scheduled intercity services, with more than 150 stops in the northeast United States and Canada with plans to expand internationally. The company competes with legacy incumbent bus companies on these routes by applying technology and business innovations to regional transportation.
Rally OurBus creates economic innovations to bring new business to local bus companies and promote a greener, safer form of travel. Its Mass Mobility as a Service combines technology and business model innovations in the bus industry. Rally is disrupting the mode of transportation that moves more people than any other. Its new intercity routes for regional transport and crowdfunding address surge demand travel by converting private car users to shared bus riders.
Source: Rally
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