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6:30 p.m.
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Congestion pricing”—the idea that private cars should pay a steep fee to enter the urban core—is at the center of the battle over the future of urban life. While the debate often focuses on excessive exhaust fumes, crumbling infrastructure, unending traffic, and the burden of increased taxes, we have not yet grappled with a profound issue at stake: the free mobility of citizenry that forms one of the foundations of egalitarianism. Historically, the modern state aimed to eliminate private tolls in favor of equal access for all classes of society. In theory, congestion pricing brings us further away from the egalitarian ideal. And yet there is an undeniable traffic problem that itself threatens equality of access for all citizens to the city. This panel brings together historians and urban visionaries to consider these and other philosophical underpinnings of the potential shift toward congestion pricing as a new mode of urban planning and governmental regulation. Panelists include Jean-Christophe Agnew, Professor, American Studies, Yale University; Charles Komanoff, environmental economist, New York City; Jeffrey Risom, urban designer, Gehl Architects of Denmark and consultant to NYC's PlaNYC; and Jeffrey Zupan, Senior Fellow, Regional Plan Association. Moderated by Dr.Rachel Heiman, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Bachelor’s Program and Department of Social Sciences, The New School. Sponsored by the Bachelor's Program at The New School with support from Mellon Foundation.
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