this post was submitted on 10 Jan 2025
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Cars in Manhattan were already "just for the rich".
It's simply making the rich think for a moment, before taking their car to the street. Which makes the streets safer for everyone who's not rich.
$9 doesn't make any rich person think twice.
You might think that, but - they sure do like to complain about $9!
https://lemmy.world/post/23952553
It adds up. There's plenty of wealthy, but not obscenely wealthy people in NYC who would think twice about paying $9 for no reason even if they can easily afford it.
I don't think they would ever have to pay it. It would be travel expenses on their accounting.
I think you might be misunderstanding the non-$100s of millions wealthy class.
They still do normal stuff, like go to shows and eat McDonald's while driving themselves instead of having a chauffeur.
Having your business pay the toll for a personal trip is embezzlement and most people wouldn't risk that over $9.
If companies are reimbursing people for commutes into work, that's probably not an approved tax exempt benefit so you would still need to pay income tax on that $9.
Having business pay for your tolls is absolutely not embezzlement. It's part of your compensation package. When charges increase or even gas prices, you list it and get paid back. Of course that rarely applies to poor people.
Decades ago my outside accountant passed all travel expenses to my business as part of his fees. His hourly time even included driving travel time to the office.
You'd think so, but the data clearly disagrees
Can you show the data? Because I find it extremely hard to believe multimillionaires would take the bus instead of being driven into the city in their limo.
The data this whole thread is about.
And you're making assumptions about what "rich" means.
People only making half a million are rich. They still drive their own car. Those are most of the personal vehicles being driven in Manhattan.
The people you're thinking of, are the wealthy. There are only a few hundred of those people in the city, they aren't a major driver of traffic anyway, so nobody cares about them.
Is there any data that shows people making $500k a year are deterred by a $9 fee?
Going to work 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year is $2,250. The average garage price is $15 a day.
The lower traffic numbers are the data. That's what the screen shot shows. None of the bridges or tunnels are backed up.
I claimed the fee means that now only the rich are driving in NYC. You said the data said that's not true. Yes, the poor outnumber the rich. I didn't question that. The poor can no longer afford to drive into NYC making it a new luxury for the rich. They no longer have to deal with the poors on the road with them. The rich aren't going to take a bus to save $9.
That was the claim. The drop in traffic, proves that's not the case.
Your new idea that "now only the rich are driving in NYC" always was the case anyway. The middle class and lower don't bother owning cars in NYC. The public transit being the best in the nation, and permanent parking spaces to store your car costing hundreds of dollars per month, after the cost of the car and insurance that everyone everywhere pays; most born and raised NYers don't even have drivers licenses, because cars are such a waste of money there.
The map doesn't show traffic inside NYC by NYC residents. It shows commuters going into NYC.