Update on our update of the meeting with Senator Adams (corrected)

 We weren't able to attend State Senator Eric Adams' meeting on transit issues last Saturday, but a source on the Lefferts list had this report:

There were [five] people there initially (and another neighbor joined later on). A number of suggestions were made, ranging from legislative to educational.... One of the guys mentioned the Kheel Plan, another talked about shutting down the middle lanes of Flatbush on Sundays as a bike avenue, a bike rental program (like in Paris), and various programs to hire teenagers to help out and possibly pay them in bikes.

Far be it from me to oppose these ideas, but what I have in mind is far more modest: make car drivers cover the costs of using their cars instead of requiring everyone else to pick up the tab. Gas taxes and street tolls help fund the infrastructure that allows car drivers to get around. Without them, that money has to come from the general taxpaying public. Same thing goes for public parking. Land in this city is insanely valuable. If you want a public parking space, you should pay for the privilege.

Adams deserves credit for listening to his critics. Yet in exchange for political favors he continues to support legislation like his gas tax holiday. What he doesn't seem to get it that free money for some people means less money for others.

CORRECTION (6/16/08): Charles Komanoff, who also attended the meeting, argues that the below is misleading and that Senator Adams' expressed his support for congestion pricing and other sustainable transport measures. (See comments.) Since I trust Mr. Komanoff and didn't attend the meeting myself, I'm withdrawing my negative comment and returning to my meal of crow.

Comments

[Charles Komanoff]

The anonymous report above is incomplete and misleading.

I was one of the six participants in the June 7 meeting. Sen. Adams committed to a number of meaningful actions, including: signaling support for a congestion pricing plan that includes free bus and subway service, jawboning the State Assembly leadership to stop blocking widespread installation of red-light cameras in NYC, pilot installation of large-scale bicycle parking in place of car parking at a subway station in Flatbush or Bed-Stuy, and a number of other initiatives to incubate bicycle culture and infrastructure in Central Brooklyn.

We did not discuss the Senator’s expression of support for a “gas-tax holiday.” The issue appears dormant for now, but if it rears its head our group will have a solid line of communication to persuade Sen. Adams that subsidizing cheaper gas is an inefficient and unsustainable way to ease his constituents’ economic hardships.

I was impressed by the Senator’s openness and energy in our meeting and am encouraged by the dialogue he and I have maintained since then. I look forward to his becoming an ardent and effective advocate for livable streets and sustainable transport in his district and citywide.