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Comment by econ4all | Hacker News Reader

The assumption is that tax revenue would go to mending the subway system and other public transport.

People will manage, it wouldn't be the first implementation of the tax, you'll end up with less cars on the road and more revenue and that is something you can work with.

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That works in theory. In actuality the system is already overfunded compared to other cities and funds simply become fodder for well-connected contractors on large capital projects or union workers.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/18/nyregion/new-york-subway-...

Here is an excerpt from the article: "Subway workers, including managers and administrative personnel, now make an average of about $155,000 annually in salary, overtime and benefits, according to a Times analysis of data compiled by the federal Department of Transportation. That is far more than in any other American transit system; the average in cities like Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington is less than $100,000 in total compensation annually."

The tax won't be the only piece of reform, it will get the ball rolling though, you just need to lose the defeatist attitude.

The other elements of reform are orthogonal to a crackdown on driving, and could just as easily be undertaken first. It’s magical thinking to assert that they will sort themselves out just because we made it harder to drive.

New York is also rather more expensive to live in than those other places. And perhaps those other places underpay: I'm not really sure why it's scandalous that the average* pay for someone working on a key city service allows them to comfortably raise a family in the city that they work for. Do we need to race each other to the bottom?

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*Note that it's "average", which means that there could indeed be some who are overpaid skewing the numbers for the rest.

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