"While these people may not drive and thus are seemingly cheated out of tax money, I have to ask, where do they get their groceries and other goods? How do they expect medical services to reach them in an emergency? How do they expect commerce to occur within an arms reach but at reasonable prices?"
If they live in New York, presumably they get their food from bodegas. Those corner stores in turn get their inventory shipped in mostly by truck. So, when congestion taxes go into effect, that shipping will get more expensive and the food will get slightly more expensive. Which seems fine to me.
Either you are paying for it directly through your taxes or indirectly through pricing, but one way more directly places the burden on the industries that use the roads, creating (in my opinion) less market distortion and better allocation of resources. If fewer people use the roads in a major city, the vehicles that do will have an easier time of it. This would likely make food delivery and emergency services cheaper, not more expensive.
I don't live in a major city, but I do live in a suburb with extremely bad traffic during rush hour. A big part of the problem is that there is a disconnect between the cost of the roads and their use. As a result, people treat the roads as a free resource and this creates traffic. The government attempts to expand the road system to handle the traffic, but that just encourages higher usage. There is no back pressure and people who don't drive much subsidize those that do. Charging people directly for road usage rather than hiding it in gas and other taxes would be helpful.
If they live in New York, presumably they get their food from bodegas. Those corner stores in turn get their inventory shipped in mostly by truck. So, when congestion taxes go into effect, that shipping will get more expensive and the food will get slightly more expensive. Which seems fine to me.
Either you are paying for it directly through your taxes or indirectly through pricing, but one way more directly places the burden on the industries that use the roads, creating (in my opinion) less market distortion and better allocation of resources. If fewer people use the roads in a major city, the vehicles that do will have an easier time of it. This would likely make food delivery and emergency services cheaper, not more expensive.
I don't live in a major city, but I do live in a suburb with extremely bad traffic during rush hour. A big part of the problem is that there is a disconnect between the cost of the roads and their use. As a result, people treat the roads as a free resource and this creates traffic. The government attempts to expand the road system to handle the traffic, but that just encourages higher usage. There is no back pressure and people who don't drive much subsidize those that do. Charging people directly for road usage rather than hiding it in gas and other taxes would be helpful.