Congestion Charges - a deep dive into urban traffic solutions

From Tokyo, Japan and Changsha, China. This is Down to Business English. With your hosts Skip Montreux and Des Morgan.

Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot. Dangerously hot. That's all I can say about the weather in Tokyo so far this summer, Des.

Here too in Changsha skip, every day in the mid to high thirties and even if it rains it doesn't really seem to cool things down.

Terrible. Well, weather aside, how are things in the city of Changsha otherwise?

Well phew, they say the economy in the country as a whole is slowing down, and youth unemployment has reached twenty one percent. But anecdotally for what I see on a day-to-day basis here in Chengsha, everything looks pretty positive.

Oh great, what do you say?

Overall, people seem confident about spending their money, the shops are full of customers, there's lots of new cars on the street.

Okay, so it's a bit of a mixed picture then.

Yeah, a mixed picture.

So tell me Dez, you say you that you see a lot of new cars on the street. What is the traffic situation like?

Uh what do you mean?

You know, do you find it congested? Are there lots of traffic jams? Is it difficult to get from point A to point B?

I'm not really the person to ask to be honest. I get around mainly on my bike or by taking the train, but why do you want?

He was because today's report is related to traffic. It's about a new law being introduced in one of the world's premier cities.

Oh, and what city would that be?

That would be too easy if I just told you, Des. No fun in that. Tell you what, you give me a name of a city and I will tell you whether you are right.

So you want me to guess which city?

That's right. And remember, we are talking about a world class city.

Okay then, would it be Tokyo? Mm.

No, not Tokyo. But many residents here in this city think that this kind of law would be a good idea.

Not Tokyo, uh London?

Nope, not London. London already has a version of this law in place. In fact, it has two categories of this law, depending on where in the city you want to go. Try again. Yep.

Would it be Toronto?

Oh no. But a different Canadian city. Vancouver has been looking into introducing a version of this law within the next few years.

Not Tokyo, not London, not Toronto, let me think

Of course.

New York City.

There you go, you finally hit the nail on the head. New York City is indeed the city at the center of our story today.

And this law you're talking about, does it have something to do with traffic congestion charges?

It sure does. How did you know what the law was?

It was London having the two categories, that really gave it away.

Okay, so you are familiar with this law.

Of course. Congestion charges were implemented in London twenty years ago in two thousand three.

Of course.

So this is our topic today, the congestion charge in New York City. Well

congestion charges in general. And a quick look at that situation in New York.

Let's do it.

Yes, let's get D2B down to business with congestion charges. From Singapore to New York, a deep dive into urban traffic solutions.

Before we get to the crux of the story, can you give us a little bit of the history behind congestion charges?

I could, yes. The very first city to introduce a congestion charge was Singapore, way back in 1975. At that time, it was known as the Singapore Area Licensing Scheme, or ALS. Drivers were asked to pay the equivalent of a dollar thirty when they drove into the city center.

That include professional drivers, like taxis?

Actually, no. Taxis, buses, and motorcycles were originally exempt from the charge.

As a city state, Singapore is quite densely populated, so it makes sense to limit traffic entering the city.

Singapore was and is also concerned about the environment.

That's true.

Here's a tidbit of information for you. Did you know that in the last 50 years, Singaporeans have planted over two million trees?

I did not know that, but when I visited Singapore when was it way back in the nineties? I distinctly remembering noticing how very green the city is.

And there is a good reason for that. Since 1971, November the 8th has been tree planting day. Every year on that day, residents turn out all over the city to plant trees.

What an excellent initiative. With daily temperatures now rising in so many places around the world, tree coverage goes a long way in keeping things cool.

Someone in that government was sure looking ahead.

So Singapore was the first city to implement a congestion charge. Which other cities followed?

Next was London, which you already mentioned in 2003.

Strictly speaking, the congestion charges in London were introduced in phases.

Oh, they have changed over time.

Yeah, today when you travel into central London you need to pay a congestion charge, and on the outskirts of the city there is Ule's. It stands for ultra low emission zone. If you drive a newer car with low emissions, well there's no problem. But if your car is older and does not meet emission standards, then you need to pay a fee.

I see. And who else? Stockholm. They put in place congestion charges in 2007. Milan in 2008. And other cities have also introduced similar laws since then, including Paris and Amsterdam.

I think it's important to note that not all congestion charges are created equally.

That is a very good point. The most common type of charge is having motorists pay a fee to enter the city center at certain times of the day.

What would be a specific example of that?

Well, returning to Singapore as an example The ALS system I mentioned. That was replaced in nineteen ninety eight by the ERP system. The ERP? Yes. Electric Road Pricing. They installed electronic gantries or gates on every road that led to the city center and on expressways. These gantries work in conjunction with an IU or in-vehicle unit that the drivers insert a cash card into.

I see, so when they pass a gantry, the IU installed in the vehicle is automatically charged.

That's right. And Singapore uses a variable pricing system that takes into account the time of day and the location of the driver. So for example, a trip to Raffles for a Singapore sling would cost you$15 Singapore dollars at peak hours, and maybe$2 in less congested times. Regardless of whether the car you're driving is conventional or electric.

I guess the thinking is that all vehicles cause congestion regardless of how they're powered.

Yeah, you are right. But other cities take a different view.

I know that up till twenty twenty one in London drivers of hybrid vehicles were exempt from the congestion charge as they didn't create as much pollution as petrol or diesel vehicles. Since twenty twenty one, however, they now pay the same charges as other vehicles. EVs, though, remain exempt.

There you go. The focus in London is more on pollution than on congestion.

Although it does serve to limit both.

You may already know this Des, but in 2003 when congestion charges were first introduced in London, vehicle traffic into central London fell by thirty percent in just six months.

That is a big job.

Yeah, it's a significant draw.

Yes, the big apple. I'm a little surprised to learn that they don't already have such a system.

It surprising, isn't it? Well, in June of this year, the Federal Highway Administration granted the City of New York the ability to introduce a congestion charge on vehicles entering lower Manhattan. And this could happen as soon as spring 2024. Why?

As the federal government involved, this law only applies to New York City.

That is a good and an important question, Des. The reason the federal government is involved is that some of the roads that the congestion charge will apply to, especially the highways leading into the city, well, they receive funding from the federal government.

So then the feds have a say in it.

They absolutely have a say in it.

And how much is the toll going to cost drivers?

It is still in the planning stages, but they could use a variable rate from somewhere from$9 to$23. Also to be decided are exemptions and discounts for some classification of drivers, such as taxi drivers, and other classes of vehicles.

And how has the plan been received by New York's residents?

As you can imagine, reactions have been mixed. Professional drivers have blocked plans for congestion charges for years. In fact, way back in 2007, Then Mayor Michael Bloomberg came very close to introducing a charge, but in the end was defeated.

So is the traffic in New York really that bad?

Infamously bad. Put it this way, every day, 700,000 vehicles enter Lower Manhattan, creating some of the worst gridlock in the world. The average speed traveled by a car or by any vehicle is 7.1 miles per hour, which is around 10 kilometers per hour. And the average New Yorker spends something like a hundred and seventeen hours a year just sitting in traffic.

Wow, that is a lot of unproductive hours wasted. Sitting in your car driving to work.

No doubt. From a purely economic standpoint, it is crazy.

Tell me, Skip, are there any projections as to how implementing these charges would improve the situation?

There are as a matter of fact. A 2022 study projected there would be a fifteen to twenty percent decrease in the number of vehicles entering Manhattan. The same study also projected the charges would raise one to one and a half billion dollars per year in revenue.

Wow, and where would all that money go?

The city of New York would invest it in upgrading public transportation infrastructure. An upgrade would be important because one of the aims of the scheme is to encourage people back onto public transportation. What do you mean?

Onto public transport. Are people not using the subways and buses?

Apparently not. New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or MTA Estimates that we have. Current public transport ridership is 30% lower than pre-pandemic levels.

Ah so people still don't want to be around others on public transport. Hm, I guess that would be a global phenomenon.

I don't know about that. Anecdotally, here in Tokyo, we seem to be back to crowded, overfilled trains since the end of the pandemic.

Is that right? Yeah, interesting.

Anyway, the MTA says that revenue generated by congestion charges will be critical in funding their$15 billion plan for to modernize the city's one hundred year old public transit system.

Well, let's hope that turns out to be the case for New Yorkers, because I don't think it's happened in London. Public transport is unreliable on weekdays and non existent on some lines at weekends.

There are additional health benefits as well. One study in Stockholm found that children with acute asthma visited a doctor half as often after the congestion charge was introduced there.

So there are a lot of positives to having congestion charges, but what about the negatives?

There certainly are critics of the plan. The neighboring state of New Jersey, in fact, is suing the US Department of Transportation over them approving New York's plan in June.

New Jersey is suing the federal government, but not New York State.

That's right. It is New Jersey's belief that the federal approval last month was misguided and violates the National Environmental Policy Act.

And that's uh national law.

Yes, it was enacted in nineteen seventy, and it requires the federal government to conduct comprehensive, in depth studies on large scales proposals that impact the environment.

But what standing does New Jersey have over a New York proposal?

Well, the lawsuit says that New York City's plan would divert extra traffic to New Jersey. That in turn would harm the state's environment.

Well, I can see that that would be a concern. I would also guess that many New Jersey residents work in Manhattan, so these charges would be a cost burden.

And you would be right about that. Approximately four hundred thousand New Jersey residents commute into Manhattan every day. According to the lawsuit filed in federal court, New Jersey will bear much of the burden of this congestion pricing scheme in terms of the environment, financial impact, and human impact. But they received none of its benefits.

New Jersey residents were paying additional tax. And all of the proceeds would then go to New York.

Precisely. So as you can see, this congestion pricing scheme in New York City is not a done deal yet.

Well you did say that drivers had managed to block earlier plans for congestion charges.

I did, and the US has a very strong car culture. So time will tell how this plan fares. Excuse the pun.

If the congestion charge is successful, then we very well might see congestion charges in other US cities.

That would absolutely happen. In fact, congestion pricing is under review in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, just to name a few cities.

Wow. While they are considering whether or not to introduce congestion charges in their cities, I think it's time for us to get. DTV!

Do you find down-to-business English helpful in your English studies? Consider becoming a D2B member today to learn and retain even more words, phrases, and expressions used by native English speakers in professional situations. What do you get with a D2B membership plan? First, bonus content in the form of exclusive members-only D2B episodes. Second, expanded D2V or down-to-vocabulary episodes that accompany each public episode of Down-to-Business English.

Let's get things started today with the adverb anecdotally, which is also commonly used as a noun, an anecdote and an adjective anecdotal.

The whole word family can be used in professional conversations.

Yes it can. As an adverb, anecdotally means that the evidence you're giving is taken from your experience and is not proven in any other way.

So, in the story, when Des said that the economy in Changsha seemed positive, he started his comment by saying, anecdotally. This communicated to me that what he said next was based on his personal observation and not on any factual information.

In other words, my evidence was anecdotal and

Anecdote, on the other hand, is a personal story. Imagine you are discussing a topic with your colleagues. You might add a personal anecdote if it was related to the topic.

Do you know who uses a lot of anecdotes? Mm.

No, who?

Joe Biden. I listened to him giving a speech recently. I don't know who he was speaking to or But he started the speech by telling a story from his childhood.

You know, I have noticed that about him. You're right. He does give a lot of anecdotes. Interesting.

So three new words for the price of one anecdote, anecdotal and anecdotally.

Moving on, we now have the idiom to hit the nail on the head. When someone hits the nail on the head, what they have said or done is exactly right or 100% correct.

It's really easy to picture this idiom. Imagine you're trying to hammer a nail into a piece of wood. The first couple of times you hit it, you miss. Then finally on your third attempt you hit the nail right on its head and it goes all the way in.

Yeah, that's a great mental image. In the introduction to the story today, when Devs finally guessed New York City, I reacted by saying, you hit the nail on the head.

And I knew from Skip's reaction that my answer was correct.

A variation of this idiom is to nail it.

That's right, if you answer a question perfectly or find the perfect solution to a problem, you can say that you nailed it.

Can you give us an example using this idiom in a business context, Des?

Ah fool, that's a tough one, let me think. Ah here's one. Jag Ma and Alibaba really hit the nail on the head when they popularized Singles Day in China and rebranded it into an online shopping day.

Oh, when did they do that?

I think the first one was in two thousand and nine or was it two thousand and ten? Something like that. It quickly became the world's largest online shopping day with billions of dollars in sales annually.

Great example, Des. You nailed it.

Ps. And our final word for DTV today is the noun preamble. A preamble is an introductory statement or some preliminary information before you talk about the main topic.

In the story, I indicated that I was finished talking about the history of congestion charges by saying that is a preamble on congestion charges. Let's turn to what's happening in New York.

Using preamble like that is a good way to transition from the introduction to the main topic of your presentation, especially when the preamble is essential background information.

And you sometimes hear people using this word when they don't want to give any background information, when they want to get straight to the point.

What would be an example of this use then?

I have something very important to tell you.

What's that?

Well, without any preamble. You are fired from the show.

What did I do?

It was just an example, Des.

Oh you sounded so serious.

Oh don't worry, everyone knows that there would be no D2B without Mr. Des Morgan.

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And that brings us to the end of today's Down to Business English report on congestion charges. Thanks so much for discussing this with me, Des.

Don't mention it, Skip, always a pleasure.

So, you are about to embark on a trip back to Scotland, aren't you?

I am indeed. I'm boarding a plane in a couple of days and will head back to Stirling to spend a few weeks with my family. I'm really looking forward to it.

Well, you have yourself a safe trip and a great time back home.

I will. Thank you.

And to all our D2B members, the bonus vocabulary for today's episode will be released within the next 24 to 48 hours. So be sure you are subscribed to your members-only RSS feed. And look for that episode to drop there.

The bonus D2V will cover 5 more useful business words from today's story on congestion charges. The crux of something? To be exempt? a toll and the verb to suit.

And if you are not a D2B member, but would like to become one so that you can get access to bonus content like this, just visit the D2B website and click on the membership link at the top of the page. The URL is down to businessenglish.com. Thanks for listening everyone. See you next time.

Bye-bye.

Have a comment or question about today's show? Don't be shy. Visit the D2B website or Facebook page and post any comments or questions there. Skip, Dez or Samantha will be sure to leave a reply. Down to business English. Business news to improve your business English.