A solution to our pollution too?

Congestion pricing….have you heard of this new cost?

No, it’s not an idea; it is something which could become a reality by end of 2020 in New York. If that happens, which in all likelihood will,  New York City will become the first city in the US to charge motorists extra to enter the busiest areas, after the state agreed to a congestion pricing plan as part of its fiscal year 2020 budget.

The exact fee or the congestion price is yet to be determined but the aim is to reduce traffic and increase vehicle speeds in the busiest part of Manhattan. Charging this congestion feel will help the city raise more than $1 billion a year for the city’s decrepit public transit systems.

The logic behind congestion pricing is pretty simple: charge motorists a fee to enter the busiest parts of a city, and use that money to bolster public transportation, which is more efficient at moving people through cities and better for the environment. Faced with paying for something that was once free, many drivers will opt to use some other form of transit instead. The road becomes less congested, the air becomes clearer, and cities become more livable.

Advocates of congestion pricing cite the success of similar systems in cities like London, Stockholm, and Singapore. London pioneered congestion pricing. Well, is there what the 22 most polluted cities of the world, all in India, need to look at?