Speaker 1: It's Night's Side with Dan Ray. I'm telling you please,
Speaker 1: Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2: All right, Well, a subject that we talk about often
Speaker 2: is Boston traffic, and whenever there's a traffic report that
Speaker 2: comes out that implicates Boston drivers problems for Boston drivers,
Speaker 2: we like to talk about it. So the Boston Herald
Speaker 2: Today interesting article by Grace Djakovic at Boston Herald dot
Speaker 2: com says that Boston ranks fourth in the United States,
Speaker 2: fourth worst in the United States, and twelfth in the world.
Speaker 2: Twelfth worst in the world in terms of overall congestion.
Speaker 2: Now in Boston, Boston typical driver lost eighty eight hours
Speaker 2: to traffic throughout the year. This is an unbelievable amount
Speaker 2: of time when you think about it. It also means
Speaker 2: that when they lost eighty eight hours of time just
Speaker 2: sitting in traffic, average speed of Boston's downtown driver is
Speaker 2: thirteen miles an hour. Now, I know we're an old city.
Speaker 2: I get all of that. I totally get all of that,
Speaker 2: But this is crazy. We spent I think it was
Speaker 2: twenty four billion dollars on the big dig back from
Speaker 2: the late eighties through the nineties. Those of you who
Speaker 2: weren't living here at the time, don't remember the inconvenience
Speaker 2: of the big dig. But we were told, oh, when
Speaker 2: the big dig is done, we're going to be just fine.
Speaker 2: Well we're not. We're not just fine. In Boston, we
Speaker 2: lost seventy nine Computing to the report found that Boston
Speaker 2: drivers lost seventy nine hours. That's I mean, that's a
Speaker 2: lot of time and and fourteen dollars sitting in traffic. Now,
Speaker 2: this this is crazy. I was driving yesterday. I was
Speaker 2: actually my wife was driving, and we were going down
Speaker 2: Beacon Street. I try to avoid Beacon Street, all of
Speaker 2: those streets whenever I can, put me on store drive
Speaker 2: and let me get out of town. But my wife's
Speaker 2: not a fan of store drive. So we were driving
Speaker 2: down Beacon Street. Those of you who live in Boston,
Speaker 2: no Beacon Street. So from Beacon Street and Charles Street
Speaker 2: to Mass Avenue probably like two miles maybe tops two
Speaker 2: and a half had to take us at least twenty minutes.
Speaker 2: There are bike lanes all the way down on both
Speaker 2: sides of the street, right side, left side. There are
Speaker 2: parking lanes on both sides of the street on both
Speaker 2: on the on the right side, I guess it's one
Speaker 2: way street heading out bound, and basically we're down to
Speaker 2: two lanes. It used to be three lanes on Beacon Street.
Speaker 2: It was built as a y thoroughfare, Commonwealth Avenue, y thoroughfare,
Speaker 2: and it's maddening. It's maddening because yesterday this was noontime
Speaker 2: or show twelve thirty one o'clock, there was double park
Speaker 2: People double parked and have banded their cars. So in
Speaker 2: many areas of Beacon Street it was down to one
Speaker 2: lane in traffic. There were I didn't see any police
Speaker 2: cars out ticketing people. But now again I'm not looking
Speaker 2: for people to be penalized, but when you lose, when
Speaker 2: you have two bike lanes and then two sides of
Speaker 2: the street for parking, you need parking. Living in the
Speaker 2: back bay, and you're going to have double parking of
Speaker 2: abandoned cars, SUVs, and for the most part you're down
Speaker 2: to one lane. It took about twenty minutes to get
Speaker 2: from Charles Street to Mass Avenue, which is insane. It's
Speaker 2: absolutely insane. Now in New York they've come up with
Speaker 2: congestion congestion pricing, and they had this funny phrase for it.
Speaker 2: I think they call it What's the phrase they call
Speaker 2: it congestion relief. They will have congestion relief by charging
Speaker 2: you money if you want to be in Lower Manhattan
Speaker 2: anywhere from the south side of Central Park south all
Speaker 2: the way down through Soho and Wall Street nine dollars
Speaker 2: for each car. This is insane. It is absolutely insane.
Speaker 2: It is a continuing attack on automobile drivers. Uh, those
Speaker 2: who are in power in major American cities want to
Speaker 2: eliminate automobile traffic in their city. That's what it's all about.
Speaker 2: And you can you can phrase it in terms of
Speaker 2: climate change. What difference is that going to make? Not
Speaker 2: going to make any difference at all, as long as
Speaker 2: countries like Pakistan and India and trying to keep belching
Speaker 2: stuff up into the atmosphere. Uh, the fact that that
Speaker 2: you're going to be driving riding in the MBTA or
Speaker 2: driving a tricycle to work, it won't make a difference. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you can drive a tricycle. That that's they're allowed in
Speaker 2: a bike lane. Let me go to Jim and Kansas City. Jim, welcome,
Speaker 2: you are next on NIGHTSIDEM going to start us off
Speaker 2: as our Jim gard ahead.
Speaker 3: Dan, Hey, thanks for taking my call and then thinking
Speaker 3: about this, since you talked about it on Friday night. Yeah, well,
Speaker 3: I think the reason why we call it congestion relief
Speaker 3: pricing is because if they call it, and if they
Speaker 3: don't call it that, then it could be construed as
Speaker 3: restricting people's rights under the first Article eighth section the
Speaker 3: right to travel. It's it's it's not really a right
Speaker 3: to travel. It's a right to have commerce or whatever,
Speaker 3: but it's I mean, generally, I think it's it's viewed
Speaker 3: as a right to be able to travel and unimpeded
Speaker 3: from one municipality, one governments to another. And they say that.
Speaker 3: So the only way they're going to get away with
Speaker 3: it is if they say that they're trying to increase
Speaker 3: people's ability to travel.
Speaker 2: Rather than understand the point you're making. I think that
Speaker 2: it's a tough point that you're trying to make legally.
Speaker 2: Look right, do you.
Speaker 3: Think it's well, then do you think they should be
Speaker 3: it's illegal under that? Under that, No, I don't think.
Speaker 2: You're going to win that argument because they're going to say, look,
Speaker 2: we're not impeding people's right to travel. We're simply saying
Speaker 2: that we need to regulate transportation within our community, and
Speaker 2: if we in our community decide we want to have
Speaker 2: do you know how much money they've spent on bike
Speaker 2: lanes in Boston gym. Boston is on the same size
Speaker 2: as a city as Kansas City. I mean, it's not
Speaker 2: a huge metropolis. It's not New York, Chicago, Los Angeles.
Speaker 2: Take a guest as to how much the city of
Speaker 2: Boston has spent in the last couple of years on
Speaker 2: bike lanes. Take a guess.
Speaker 3: I might I might have heard you say this before.
Speaker 3: Fourteen million, one.
Speaker 2: Hundred and twenty one million dollars on bike lanes.
Speaker 3: Wow, that's a lot.
Speaker 2: Okay, yut, it's crazy, it's insane. And the number of
Speaker 2: people who use bikes compared to the number of people
Speaker 2: who use cars. We're an automotive society, but they want
Speaker 2: us out of the cars. They want to make it
Speaker 2: so expensive that people like you and me will say,
Speaker 2: I give up, I'll take We call it the MBTA here.
Speaker 2: I don't know what they call it in Kansas City,
Speaker 2: but rapid transit, public transportation, or drive your bikes to work.
Speaker 2: And every month somebody in Boston is killed riding a bike. Sad, horrible,
Speaker 2: but you put people out of this sort of weather,
Speaker 2: and you know, all all you need is one person
Speaker 2: to make a bad decision and all of a sudden
Speaker 2: they find themselves under a truck. It's but but they
Speaker 2: could kill less. They could kill less about the lives
Speaker 2: of bicyclists. They are only reacting to the bike lobby,
Speaker 2: and which is, give us as many bike lanes as
Speaker 2: you want, take, you know, take the roads away from
Speaker 2: from drivers. Do you have bike lanes in Kansas City,
Speaker 2: gym or no?
Speaker 3: They have a few of them, not very many. And
Speaker 3: they don't have very many trains either. They have this
Speaker 3: one train that they put kind of downtown and it's
Speaker 3: a it's a big deal because it runs through places
Speaker 3: where people used to park their cars. There's not very
Speaker 3: much free parking either. There's parking, but so you have
Speaker 3: to pay and then walk. And there's places where people
Speaker 3: in high places used to park their cars, like right
Speaker 3: in from a city hall, and that train runs right
Speaker 3: path there now, so you can't park a car there.
Speaker 3: And there was a big uproar, oh probably five years
Speaker 3: ago about this real powerful city council person who insisted
Speaker 3: on continuing to park a car there, and it turned
Speaker 3: into a big fiasco.
Speaker 2: Well, I don't mind seeing the politicians lose their parking spaces,
Speaker 2: but really, you know, I mean, at least they're they're
Speaker 2: giving up parking spaces in Kansas City. The city councils
Speaker 2: in Boston they have nice underground parking and city Hall,
Speaker 2: so they're taken care of. They don't have to want
Speaker 2: a lot of thing.
Speaker 4: But I don't know, Oh, that's that's to me, that
Speaker 4: that's one hope that you might have is to get
Speaker 4: it struck down or prohib.
Speaker 2: Well, you're you're a constitutional scholar. If you think that
Speaker 2: that's if you can find some constitutional lawyer, good luck.
Speaker 2: But like anything else, they're gonna say, Look, you could
Speaker 2: make that same argument over parking meters. You could say, well,
Speaker 2: parking meters tie up streets. This is a purely political
Speaker 2: effort by a lot of the progressive city cities in America,
Speaker 2: and Boston leads the way. If you get them in
Speaker 2: Kansas City, stop them before they get going gym because
Speaker 2: they know they want bike lanes everywhere everywhere. Trust me
Speaker 2: on them. Okay, okay, they have some, but keep it
Speaker 2: down to a minimum. Trust me, it's not worth it,
Speaker 2: particularly in the city like Boston.
Speaker 3: There's one there's one place over here. There's a kind
Speaker 3: of a street where it's it's kind of hard to explain,
Speaker 3: but you have to unless you want to go way
Speaker 3: out of your way, you have to take this street.
Speaker 3: It's called in one place is called Truman, and then
Speaker 3: it becomes I think something else, but end me a picture.
Speaker 2: So I it's tough to explain it on the radio. Gym.
Speaker 2: I gotta run. I gotta break.
Speaker 3: There's a place where the road goes straight from two
Speaker 3: lane so one lane, without almost no warning whatsoever, in
Speaker 3: order to accommodate the bike lane.
Speaker 2: We got plenty of those in Boston. We got plenty
Speaker 2: of those roads in Boston, Gym, trust me. Hey, I
Speaker 2: gotta run, Jim, I gotta I got a commercial break.
Speaker 2: I gotta get to Thank you much, appreciate you call.
Speaker 2: We'll take a break. Six one, seven, two thirty, triple
Speaker 2: eight nine two, nine, ten thirty. Are you looking forward
Speaker 2: to congestion pricing in Boston? You know what that means.
Speaker 2: It means that you and I will have to pay
Speaker 2: nine bucks, ten bucks whatever just to drive for the
Speaker 2: privilege of driving into the city. Uh. And all it
Speaker 2: will mean is the only the uber wealthy, meaning those
Speaker 2: who work in law firms and uh, they get their
Speaker 2: their their vehicles, all their expenses are paid. The average person, uh,
Speaker 2: and you know is gonna end up. They're forcing you
Speaker 2: to ride in the MBTA, just like they're forcing you
Speaker 2: in New York. We're gonna talk about congestion pricing. We
Speaker 2: talked about it the other night. I want to continue
Speaker 2: to talk about it tonight back on night Side six
Speaker 2: one seven, two, five, four ten thirty six one seven, nine,
Speaker 2: ten thirty. I'd love to hear from anyone in New York.
Speaker 2: They had it yesterday and today was the first workday
Speaker 2: of congestion pricing. I'm sure, I'm sure that New Yorkers
Speaker 2: are the average person, the working people. They're the ones
Speaker 2: who are really going to take it, take the brunt
Speaker 2: of this, this this folly, nothing, nothing more than that.
Speaker 2: Back on Nightside after.
Speaker 1: This, Now back to Dan ray Line from the Window
Speaker 1: World night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: All right, we're talking about congestion pricing in New York City.
Speaker 2: It's going to come to Boston, so be prepared. Let
Speaker 2: me by the way, I just want to play a
Speaker 2: little bit. This is Governor Hokel I said the other night,
Speaker 2: has to be like the dumbest governor in America. But
Speaker 2: she's trying to tell people it's going to cost the
Speaker 2: average driver of an automobile nine dollars. Trucks will be more,
Speaker 2: or SUVs, I think will be more. So this is
Speaker 2: cut number thirty two, Rob. This is where she explains
Speaker 2: how that charging you nine dollars a day to go
Speaker 2: into New York City is actually going to save you
Speaker 2: fifteen hundred dollars a year.
Speaker 5: And I'm proud to announce we have found a path
Speaker 5: to find the MTA reduce congestion and keep millions of
Speaker 5: dollars in the pockets of our commuters. Under this plan,
Speaker 5: the MTA will can implement a congestion pricing plan with
Speaker 5: a reduced daytime toll of nine dollars beginning in January.
Speaker 5: You heard that correctly. It was fifteen dollars before and
Speaker 5: now it is nine dollars.
Speaker 6: That is a forty percent reduction. This lower toll will
Speaker 6: save daily commuters nearly fifteen hundred dollars annually, and that
Speaker 6: kind of makes a big difference for our families.
Speaker 2: How stupid does she think the average New Yorker is
Speaker 2: And if you're a New Yorker, how stupid. We were
Speaker 2: gonna charge you fifteen a day, so now we're only
Speaker 2: going to charge you nine. So you get a savings
Speaker 2: there of forty percent. You're still out nine dollars a day,
Speaker 2: but we're saving you fifteen hundred dollars a year. That
Speaker 2: is just I mean, you talk about and when you
Speaker 2: she has to be the most arrogant as well as
Speaker 2: the dumbest governed in America. Six one, seven, nine, three, one,
Speaker 2: ten thirty. That's the only line is open. Let me
Speaker 2: go to Phil in Boston. I'll bet you Phil is
Speaker 2: a little frustrated like myself.
Speaker 7: Then in this play, this is crazy. You mentioned that governor.
Speaker 7: She may sound like we're paying fifty. They're paying fifteen
Speaker 7: dollars already, so we're saving you six dollars and who's
Speaker 7: gonna pay? Hey, how are they gonna pay it? I'm
Speaker 7: so much gonna be coming off your little chess bitty
Speaker 7: having a windshield.
Speaker 2: Well, no, there's two ways. Here's how they're gonna get it. No,
Speaker 2: two ways. One, if you are an easy pass person
Speaker 2: and whatever they call the different states, it will just
Speaker 2: click on to your monthly bill. But let's assume that
Speaker 2: you're smart and you don't have an easy pass. You
Speaker 2: got a license plate, they'll take a picture of your
Speaker 2: license plate. They have all these they've spent millions of
Speaker 2: dollars to put up all of these cameras, and you
Speaker 2: know they've they could care less. But yeah, you know
Speaker 2: it's jim. I'm I'm gonna stick you up with a
Speaker 2: gun when I see you on the street, and I'm
Speaker 2: gonna say, give me your wallet, and I'm gonna say, oh,
Speaker 2: you got two hundred dollars in your wallet. Okay, I'm
Speaker 2: gonna take one hundred and fifty dollars out of your wallet. Here,
Speaker 2: you can keep fifty. So I've saved you by robbing you.
Speaker 2: I've saved you one hundred and fifty dollars because it
Speaker 2: could have been two hundred.
Speaker 7: Don't give any ideas. Then what happens if you have
Speaker 7: to go in town and you pbably don't have the
Speaker 7: answer to this, who does who? When you have to
Speaker 7: go in towns that pick up someone in the city
Speaker 7: hall would have pay a bill, then you have to
Speaker 7: grow the new back end and pick up your daughter
Speaker 7: or someone's friend, whatever, and.
Speaker 2: Every every every time you go in.
Speaker 7: I can't even get my tax bill in the mill
Speaker 7: because either it's gonna this is And you mentioned a
Speaker 7: bike lane for bikes, and you mentioned a billion dollars
Speaker 7: I have seen. The only things I see in the
Speaker 7: bike lane is one gentleman with a little thing he
Speaker 7: made up with a baby in the back that I
Speaker 7: think it's crazy. And the rest of unicycles, uh mopens
Speaker 7: and no helmets on. No, no, how are they gonna
Speaker 7: get the plate? How is this? This is this? You're right,
Speaker 7: they're trying to get us. They don't want to have
Speaker 7: us all walking along with turkeys, and no one will
Speaker 7: be able to drive.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well that's the only people who will be able
Speaker 2: to drive will be the uber wealthy who for them
Speaker 2: nine dollars a day is like a.
Speaker 4: Nickel right off or whatever.
Speaker 2: But I'll tell you, you keep electing the same politicians,
Speaker 2: you're gonna get the same result. What do they say
Speaker 2: if it's insanity? When you're doing the same thing over
Speaker 2: and over again and you think to yourself that somehow
Speaker 2: I'm going to get a different result. You know, you
Speaker 2: beat your head against the wall, you have a headache,
Speaker 2: You get up the next day, you beat yourself against
Speaker 2: the wall, you have a headache. Keep going doing it
Speaker 2: every day until you stop beating your head against the wall,
Speaker 2: You're always gonna get headaches.
Speaker 7: Let me get this bully's bills? How can people survive
Speaker 7: the tax? Bull of this and that the pizza coffee
Speaker 7: is for? I mean it's crazy. I mean they keep
Speaker 7: piling and olliver. They know we can pay. I think
Speaker 7: we should go on Swike and don't no one drive
Speaker 7: their car in a Boston within reason, you know, I mean,
Speaker 7: is this crazy?
Speaker 2: They do not care? Uh, they do not care because
Speaker 2: they think you're stupid. They think that you don't vote,
Speaker 2: and they think that that people overall will just return them.
Speaker 2: I've said, I've told you before. You go to the diner,
Speaker 2: whether you're in Boston somewhere or you're in a suburb.
Speaker 2: And every once in a while you're there and the
Speaker 2: state rep comes by and pat you in the back.
Speaker 2: He doesn't know you did. He gives you the big hey,
Speaker 2: how you doing great to see you? Remember me? Come
Speaker 2: to Alexandine Representative Smugsborg. Thank you very much? Now house
Speaker 2: wife and kids? Oh you're not married. I'm sorry, I'm talking.
Speaker 2: They think we're idiots.
Speaker 7: And thanks. I'm glad we agree on this, and then
Speaker 7: maybe this might get the word out. It's it's got
Speaker 7: a it's got the stop. Sweet. Oh you coun't even
Speaker 7: get so much lemonade. I'm a lemon man.
Speaker 2: They could kill us. They could kill us. They they
Speaker 2: will soak you until you're dead, okay, and they'll even
Speaker 2: soak you after your dead. It's as simple as that,
Speaker 2: because they got to keep the revenue coming in so
Speaker 2: they can put their their their stupid brothers in law
Speaker 2: on the payroll. What's going on? Thanks? Phil, talks talk soon.
Speaker 2: You have a great one.
Speaker 7: Thank you.
Speaker 2: Love your passion, man, love your passion. Coming back on Nightside,
Speaker 2: I got Melissa and Oregon coming up, got Robert, Michael
Speaker 2: and Maureen and I got room for you only line
Speaker 2: open six one thirty. Will be right back on nightside.
Speaker 1: You're on night Side with Ray on Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 2: Back to the phones. You're are going to go to
Speaker 2: Melissa out in Oregon. Hey, Melissa, welcome. How many bike
Speaker 2: lanes you got out there? Oh?
Speaker 8: Too many to count? Give a lot. And it's.
Speaker 4: And I'm a baker, you're important.
Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, I actually live pretty close to the on
Speaker 8: Town and there are these lanes that you stop a
Speaker 8: little bit. All right, It's just it's I still can't
Speaker 8: figure them out. So it's and I'm a biker and
Speaker 8: I can't figure them out. And but my question to
Speaker 8: you on the New York thing, and I've looked this up,
Speaker 8: but I haven't been able to figure out an answer.
Speaker 8: It sounded like the governor of New York said they
Speaker 8: reduced it from fifteen. So was it already implemented au.
Speaker 2: No, no, no, no, no. They started oh yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 2: It was like, uh, well we're going to have this,
Speaker 2: and they had some sort of a committee to come
Speaker 2: up and said it we'll be fifteen dollars. Uh. And
Speaker 2: so at that point the politician, the governor step say says, no,
Speaker 2: I don't think it should be fifteen. Let's make it nine.
Speaker 2: We're saving everybody six dollars. You were not saving anybody anything.
Speaker 2: You're charging him nine dollars.
Speaker 8: It's exactly then the impact to live drivers, uber drivers's
Speaker 8: going straight to the customer. And I'm curious how cabs,
Speaker 8: you know, will they just stay within a certain zone,
Speaker 8: because otherwise they're not going to want to leave the zone.
Speaker 8: And then have to come back in and pay nine dollars.
Speaker 2: Well, what it is, it's it's just anything south of
Speaker 2: Central Park six sixtieth Street, So south of Central Park
Speaker 2: all the way down you know, to to Soho and
Speaker 2: Battery March or whatever. Yeah, so that's the place. I
Speaker 2: just think what it's going to do anybody. First of all, look,
Speaker 2: if you're uber wealthy and you can fly into New
Speaker 2: York and you know, take a h an uber or
Speaker 2: a limo and and you don't care what the cost is, great, great,
Speaker 2: good luck. But if you're somebody from Boston who wanted
Speaker 2: to drive down to the city, Boston's it's like four
Speaker 2: hour drive from here. You're gonna drive down in the
Speaker 2: city and pay one hundred dollars a night to park
Speaker 2: your car, Pay five hundred dollars a night for some
Speaker 2: fleabag hotel in New York City. I mean, give me
Speaker 2: a break.
Speaker 8: Just mentioned you might not have a restaurant, sorry enough,
Speaker 8: you might not have a restaurant to go to, because
Speaker 8: that's going to be passed on to restaurants every time
Speaker 8: they get a delivery to their location. So they may
Speaker 8: not have any place to visit. They might have money
Speaker 8: to go there. They might not have anything to visit,
Speaker 8: and they might not have workers.
Speaker 2: And what they're saying is that the money will help
Speaker 2: the the what they call the MTA, the Metro Transit
Speaker 2: Authority or whatever is in New York. So yeah, take
Speaker 2: the subway in New York, but watch your back because
Speaker 2: someone might try to push you in front of an
Speaker 2: oncoming train. And whatever you do, don't fall asleep because
Speaker 2: someone might light you on fire.
Speaker 8: So and you know, so is your life worth nine dollars?
Speaker 8: I mean, it's just it makes no sense. And you know,
Speaker 8: one of the things that we have a very nice
Speaker 8: metro system here, it's called TriMet and it's that they
Speaker 8: do an excellent job with it and it does run
Speaker 8: on time and all those and the buses are good here.
Speaker 8: But I don't know that trains and buses and bike
Speaker 8: lanes solve all problems. And it feels like the urban
Speaker 8: planning folks they're focused on, I don't know what the
Speaker 8: right way to say it is that they're they're just
Speaker 8: missing the bigger picture and the costs are just killing people.
Speaker 8: And it's just it's just something seems backwards.
Speaker 2: You know, how is Portland doing as a city a
Speaker 2: couple of years ago. I mean they were in real
Speaker 2: dire straits. They're homeless population, people setting up in people's backyards.
Speaker 2: Is that you had police stations that were being burned
Speaker 2: and people were protesting. I mean, Portland looked like like
Speaker 2: a disaster area. Has there gotten any savory? Any better there?
Speaker 8: It has? I knew, you know. I lived here for
Speaker 8: a long time and then I was away for about
Speaker 8: four years, and I came back in May of twenty three,
Speaker 8: and there were things that surprised me. I live about
Speaker 8: a mile and a half from downtown in a very
Speaker 8: quiet neighborhood, but there were things in my neighborhood that
Speaker 8: I noticed had changed. They have started to clean up there.
Speaker 8: The new mayor, things have changed.
Speaker 2: What they were. They had a mayor out there who
Speaker 2: was a bit of a cuckle bird who I thought.
Speaker 2: I think he was different.
Speaker 8: Yeah, cool, different, Yeah, I mean, hi, I like the
Speaker 8: new gentleman. He wants city employees to come back to work,
Speaker 8: and they're fighting him on. It's like, come on, you know,
Speaker 8: get to work, you know. But I will say this,
Speaker 8: it has cleaned up a lot. The other thing is,
Speaker 8: and this is probably not politically correct, but I I
Speaker 8: think it's something that should be said. I first moved
Speaker 8: to Portland in two thousand and one. In Portland had
Speaker 8: a homeless problem because of the weather, because of the services,
Speaker 8: And you're gonna tell me it took the twenty nineteen
Speaker 8: and twenty twenty to recognize there was a homeless problem.
Speaker 8: So I think that's what bothers me. I will say
Speaker 8: that I used to be someone, you know, that used
Speaker 8: to walk by myself at eleven thirty twelve at night.
Speaker 8: I don't do that anymore. I've curbed, you know, when
Speaker 8: I feel that way when I'm in any city, I
Speaker 8: think the city that And maybe this is just the
Speaker 8: Portland and me talking. Seattle's dirty. Seattle doesn't feel the same.
Speaker 8: You know, what is the statistics? I just heard they're
Speaker 8: supposed to have two thousand people on their third shift,
Speaker 8: and what did I hear? They might have eight hundred
Speaker 8: or twelve hundred or something?
Speaker 4: So police, no police.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I spoke too quickly, but you know, and I
Speaker 8: think that's what bothers me is that the most is
Speaker 8: that Portland's always been a very clean city, and when
Speaker 8: I came back, it didn't feel as clean. It felt,
Speaker 8: you know, there's a lot of tagging, there's a lot
Speaker 8: of buildings that it doesn't feel like people have taken
Speaker 8: respect towards the city and the buildings. And I haven't
Speaker 8: just seen that in Portland. I've seen it in Eugene.
Speaker 8: I saw it in Chico, California, when I was there.
Speaker 8: I saw it in Columbus, Ohio recently when I was there,
Speaker 8: And it just feels like we've lost caring and feeding
Speaker 8: of our cities, if that makes sense, our infrastructure. But
Speaker 8: I'm biased again. I love Portland. I love being by
Speaker 8: the ocean, I love being by mouth hoods. So maybe
Speaker 8: I have a rosier view than what is really happening. Well,
Speaker 8: and it has cleaned.
Speaker 2: Up well, I hope it has for you. I mean,
Speaker 2: they've had a lot of problems in that city over
Speaker 2: the years, and uh, it used to be it used
Speaker 2: to be a wonderful city. But everyone who I talked
Speaker 2: to has has has a similar reaction as you do, Melissa.
Speaker 2: Always great to hear your voice. Thank you. So we
Speaker 2: count the days down to when the when the truck
Speaker 2: leaves from Fenway Park, which is always early feeblies, so
Speaker 2: it's even less. That's you're right, all right, thanks, Melissa,
Speaker 2: talk soon. All right, let me keep rolling. You're going
Speaker 2: to go to a Michael in Boston. Michael, you're next
Speaker 2: on Nightsiger, righthead.
Speaker 4: Michael, Hi, Dan? How are you?
Speaker 2: I'm doing fun?
Speaker 4: How you should have told her we're four hundred short
Speaker 4: on our police here in Boston too.
Speaker 2: I mean, oh, absolutely no. I was about to say that,
Speaker 2: and I let and I let this slip at your
Speaker 2: correct there's a lot of major cities that they can't
Speaker 2: recruit police. Police used to be people wanted to be
Speaker 2: police officers. But people don't want to be police officers anymore.
Speaker 4: Is that it or they don't want them?
Speaker 2: Well, I think that that there was a period of
Speaker 2: time where a lot of police officers said I don't
Speaker 2: need to deal with this aggravation anymore and left. And
Speaker 2: I think the word came fourth. And I think that
Speaker 2: a lot of young people say, I'll find another job
Speaker 2: one it's dangerous. Uh, And you're not, don't You don't
Speaker 2: have the respect that you used to have. They you
Speaker 2: can listen to our station. They have ads now on
Speaker 2: the station where they're talking about trying to get there.
Speaker 2: There's a whole campaign going on by the city of
Speaker 2: Boston to try to recruit police officers to get people.
Speaker 2: I mean, I've never saw that before. It used to
Speaker 2: be people would die and take the civil service test.
Speaker 2: They don't do that anymore. It's it's as simple as
Speaker 2: that's what's your taken? What's going on?
Speaker 4: I'm kind of confused. I heard about this yesterday on
Speaker 4: your show, and I'm thinking in New York, if you
Speaker 4: have a residence in the city. We're on West fifty
Speaker 4: seventh Street. Let's say, and you commute to work, you
Speaker 4: work in New Jersey, and you force us to come
Speaker 4: home every night? Are you an exception or are you're
Speaker 4: included in that?
Speaker 2: See, I have seen nothing to the effect. I have
Speaker 2: seen nothing, and I've tried to read as much as
Speaker 2: I could of exceptions. You know, you would think that
Speaker 2: anyone who lived there. No, I can suggest that you
Speaker 2: can go and look. Congestion they call it, by the way,
Speaker 2: This is again one of those words I love, the
Speaker 2: euphemism congestion relief zone total interest. Starting January fifth, twenty
Speaker 2: twenty five, which is yesterday, vehicles will be told and
Speaker 2: to congestion relief zone. The toll amount will depend on
Speaker 2: the type of vehicle time of day, and whether any
Speaker 2: crossing credits apply. I have no idea what crossing credits
Speaker 2: are and the method of payment. There were also discounts
Speaker 2: and exemptions that will apply to certain drivers or vehicles
Speaker 2: entering the congestion release Zone using an Easy Past New
Speaker 2: York account. But it just talks about the congestion relief
Speaker 2: zone includes local streets and avenues in Manhattan south of An,
Speaker 2: including sixtieth Street, which is the Subwits Central Park, excluding
Speaker 2: the FDR Drive, West Side Highway, Route nine A and
Speaker 2: Hugh Carry Tunnel connections to West Street. But I see
Speaker 2: nothing about all it talks about. Oh, discounts and exemptions.
Speaker 2: Here we go, discounts and exemptions. Discounts and exemption plans
Speaker 2: are available for the congestion relief zone. A discount plan
Speaker 2: is available for low income drivers, and exemption plans are
Speaker 2: available for individuals with disabilities or organizations transporting people with disabilities,
Speaker 2: emergency vehicles, buses and specialized government owned vehicles. Not a
Speaker 2: mention of people who live. They assume everybody is wealthy
Speaker 2: enough who live there.
Speaker 4: So do you think if this is done in Boston?
Speaker 4: For example, I have a condo in Copley Square, and
Speaker 4: I use my car very little, but when I use it,
Speaker 4: one of the times I may use it, if not
Speaker 4: to take a just to take a ride for the
Speaker 4: day and then come back. But I'll take it for groceries.
Speaker 4: I'll go to market Basket, which is outside of the city,
Speaker 4: and I'll get groceries for myself and other people and
Speaker 4: come back home. Yep, and say a fee. I guess so,
Speaker 4: I guess so, yes, according to those well again you Boston.
Speaker 2: Boston can do it differently, but the bottom line is
Speaker 2: the average. Can you imagine every person who has who
Speaker 2: lives in the downtown area. If you have to have
Speaker 2: an electrician or a plumber or someone come to your
Speaker 2: home to do some work inside the home, that person
Speaker 2: is going to be charged an additional fee that's going
Speaker 2: to be passed on to you. These people are insane.
Speaker 2: They're absolutely insane. They want to turn Boston and New
Speaker 2: York into places where only the uber wealthy can live.
Speaker 2: That's what their goal is.
Speaker 4: Well, coincidentally, I got my tax bill yesterday. Oh tell
Speaker 4: me about that early tax bill which is due February first. Uh,
Speaker 4: it's up thirty percent over last year. They did it
Speaker 4: in two increments, so it's about five hundred a quarter
Speaker 4: more than it was a year ago. So they went
Speaker 4: up to last So give it up.
Speaker 2: Give it. What were you paying in real estate taxes
Speaker 2: in Boston last year overall?
Speaker 4: Roughly uh last year or last quarter? No, last year
Speaker 4: last year about seven thousand.
Speaker 2: Okay, And what will you be this year? What will
Speaker 2: you be paid?
Speaker 4: This new bill is uh twenty two hundred for the quarter.
Speaker 2: Times four is almost so your tax bill is going
Speaker 2: to increase eighteen one hundred dollars. And you know on
Speaker 2: a on the federal taxes are the tax deductions are
Speaker 2: capped what they call the salt cap, at ten thousand dollars,
Speaker 2: so you're gonna you know, you know, it used to
Speaker 2: be that the amount of money that you would pay,
Speaker 2: you know, to the state of Massachusetts along with your
Speaker 2: real estate bill, uh, you know, could be taken as
Speaker 2: a federal exemption. Now it's limited to ten thousand dollars.
Speaker 4: So yeah, it has been. But you can still take
Speaker 4: the standard deduction. Thanks to Trump, that went way up.
Speaker 4: So for most people it's worth taking just the standard.
Speaker 4: You don't need that, that's fine, the standard that's almost
Speaker 4: seventeen thousand.
Speaker 2: That's fine, you got it. You got it, Michael, I
Speaker 2: let you run.
Speaker 4: Well, at what point I mean the tax rate went
Speaker 4: up and the assessment went up with this bill? Yep,
Speaker 4: I don't understand that.
Speaker 2: Well keep well, just remember this. There's an election this year.
Speaker 2: Keep it in mind.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, but it doesn't do any good.
Speaker 2: Well, you know something, if you continue to believe that,
Speaker 2: that's what they want you to believe. They want you
Speaker 2: to believe that your vote doesn't matter, so you won't vote.
Speaker 2: Your vote matters, everyone's vote.
Speaker 4: Your vote matters. But I think the only thing they're
Speaker 4: going to listen to money talks. And I'm very tempted
Speaker 4: to not pay this real estate bill and put a
Speaker 4: letter in there. And if we all did that, we'd
Speaker 4: get somewhere. You know.
Speaker 2: That's what the problem is. They might get you in
Speaker 2: to court. They might get you to court. Be careful
Speaker 2: of that.
Speaker 4: Break.
Speaker 2: We'll talk soon. Okay, thanks for calling. Good. We'll take
Speaker 2: a quick break. Maureen is next that we got Matt,
Speaker 2: and we may stay with this. At eleven, you will
Speaker 2: decide and we may do something else. Coming back on
Speaker 2: Night's side right after the break.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan Ray Live from the Window World
Speaker 1: Night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: By the way, I just got a text. Another high
Speaker 2: school in Boston is being closed. A letter to the
Speaker 2: Excel High School community. They will be closed. That school
Speaker 2: will be closed. By the way, again, euphemisms given shifting circumstances.
Speaker 2: I wanted to be sure you heard the news from
Speaker 2: our team. On Wednesday, January twenty second, two thousand and five,
Speaker 2: we will recommend next steps in implementing the long term
Speaker 2: Facilities Plan to the Boston School Committee. This includes recommending
Speaker 2: the closure of Excel High School at the end of
Speaker 2: twenty twenty five twenty six school year. So once again,
Speaker 2: another another Boston high school closing. We understand that news
Speaker 2: of closures can bring a range of emotions for students, families,
Speaker 2: and staff. We also know that these steps are necessary
Speaker 2: to ensure that every student has a high quality seat
Speaker 2: in each of our schools with high quality options close
Speaker 2: to home. Yeah, it's all going to be wonderful unless
Speaker 2: you happen to be a student there. Let me go
Speaker 2: to Maureene and Cambridge. I had Marene welcome next on Nightside.
Speaker 9: Hi can even kenn, How are you.
Speaker 2: I'm doing fine? Little little wound up tonight because I
Speaker 2: think the politicians think we're all stupid.
Speaker 9: Yeah, yeah, I kind of agree with that to a
Speaker 9: certain extent. I was just always feeling that as a motorist,
Speaker 9: my XI tax pays for the roads, repairs, whatever else,
Speaker 9: that the bike should also pay a fee for using
Speaker 9: the roads if they want to use it. As I
Speaker 9: agree with you.
Speaker 2: No, I agree with you. But do you know how
Speaker 2: much and maybe you're ware this maybe or not, do
Speaker 2: you know how much Boston has spent developed putting bike
Speaker 2: lanes in just Boston.
Speaker 9: I heard what you were saying earlier. Was it one
Speaker 9: hundred and twenty.
Speaker 2: That's a lot. You can keep a lot of high schools.
Speaker 2: You could keep a lot of high schools open for
Speaker 2: that amount of money.
Speaker 9: Yes, you could, you could, definitely.
Speaker 2: But and Cambridge is no better. I mean you have
Speaker 2: bike lanes Galord Cambridge, Well.
Speaker 9: Yeah, a lot of there's more bike lanes that are
Speaker 9: taking away talking spaces for small businesses, and I know
Speaker 9: that's happening in Boston as well, and it's that place
Speaker 9: to park. So it's it's really it's a very difficult
Speaker 9: situation which they do for the bikes, you know, for bikers.
Speaker 9: But the only thing is when you throw in the
Speaker 9: even the electric bikes, they go as fast as as
Speaker 9: a car can.
Speaker 2: And the again, as long as long as they're a bike,
Speaker 2: as long as they're bikes, they're all set. It's as
Speaker 2: simple as that. Yeah, I mean, but again, bikes are
Speaker 2: an effective political lobby. And the politicians vow to political lobbies.
Speaker 2: The only people they don't vow to are residents and voters.
Speaker 2: It's as simple as that. They they assume that that
Speaker 2: that you will always be like a flock of sheep
Speaker 2: and vote for them, and in most cases in Massachusetts,
Speaker 2: that's what happens. So yes, anyway, good block and Cambridge
Speaker 2: Marine run for city council. Over there, Come on, you
Speaker 2: have you have a lot of common sense. Thanks Marin.
Speaker 2: Happy New Year, you too. Gotta try to sneak to
Speaker 2: in here if I can get Matt. Next, Matt, You're next,
Speaker 2: night side, welcome.
Speaker 10: Hey man, Right back at you.
Speaker 2: You're in You're in Boston, right ahead.
Speaker 10: All right exactly, I'm in uh right brighton. So I
Speaker 10: do have my own personal transportation, However, I personally found
Speaker 10: it easier to use services like uber, Lyft.
Speaker 4: Et cetera.
Speaker 10: Now, while I was in Hold, I looked up in
Speaker 10: New York, I looked up the gladia, and I looked
Speaker 10: up the distance. Let's say to Fifth Avenue. It was
Speaker 10: fifty right now, it was fifty five dollars, which is
Speaker 10: a nine mile drive to do the same in Boston
Speaker 10: about a nine mile drive to give or take to
Speaker 10: go in Boston from Logan to Newbury Street, it was
Speaker 10: twenty two dollars.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's not and that's maybe about three miles
Speaker 2: from Logan to Newbury Street.
Speaker 10: It was set on it was seven miles where I
Speaker 10: put in.
Speaker 2: Okay, well, you didn't see that that long?
Speaker 10: Well, okay, so I guess my my point is that
Speaker 10: there there there is an X like Sacks, and there
Speaker 10: is absolutely how long I mean, I guess my question
Speaker 10: would be how long has the mass passed? You know
Speaker 10: that thing that you put on you if you don't
Speaker 10: go through the tolls yourself? How long has that been in?
Speaker 4: It's been long, that.
Speaker 2: Easy pass for about fifteen years.
Speaker 4: Okay.
Speaker 10: So I was a little kid when that came around.
Speaker 11: Yeah, I would say that the parades.
Speaker 10: Of those I used to live down in Florida, and
Speaker 10: when I would go through Miami, it would be four
Speaker 10: dollars each time you would go through there, and I
Speaker 10: thought there was in I thought there was yeah, incredible sports.
Speaker 2: It's you know, it's more expensive in Boston. It's only
Speaker 2: going to get more expensive when they have congestion pricing. Matt,
Speaker 2: I got to keep only want to try to get
Speaker 2: one more in here before the break. Thank you was
Speaker 2: always okay, talk soon, Thank you very much, Alex and
Speaker 2: Millis Alice, you're gonna wrap the hour for us. What
Speaker 2: can you do with about a minute.
Speaker 11: And a half, Dan, I was going to say where
Speaker 11: I live in Miller's here. You know, our taxes went
Speaker 11: up to but I try to avoid going into Boston.
Speaker 11: Even when I had to have a procedure done and
Speaker 11: it was at nass General on Fruit Street, I couldn't
Speaker 11: believe the amount of construction that's going on over there.
Speaker 11: I don't know how the people around that area function.
Speaker 11: It's insane. And every time I go into Boston, when
Speaker 11: if I have to go, there's a new building up,
Speaker 11: you know, and the landscape has changed, and try to
Speaker 11: find parking. So I avoid Boston, and it's you know, I.
Speaker 2: Think a lot of people. I think a lot of
Speaker 2: people avoid Boston, and I think more and more people
Speaker 2: are going to avoid Boston because it's more difficult to
Speaker 2: get into, get out of, and it's more expensive. Parking
Speaker 2: meters now, a quarter get you four minutes in Boston.
Speaker 2: So if you if you're pumping quarters into a parking
Speaker 2: meter in Boston, you've got to be very dexterous because
Speaker 2: you've got to be able to get an hour. You
Speaker 2: have to fire eight meters eight what's it? No, not,
Speaker 2: what's it? It's fifteen. You got fifteen quarters to get
Speaker 2: an hour four minutes an hour on Commonwealth Appen, you've
Speaker 2: got to fire. By time you fire fifteen quarters into
Speaker 2: the parking meter, you got to put a couple more
Speaker 2: quarters in because it's taking you that long. It's nuts,
Speaker 2: it's nuts.
Speaker 11: They have apps, but still it's very expensive.
Speaker 2: Yeah, a lot of people aren't familiar with apps, are
Speaker 2: not as comfortable with apps and as as simple as that. Hey, Alex,
Speaker 2: I sure change to hear, but I got you in
Speaker 2: before the eleven o'clock news.
Speaker 11: Happy New Year, my friend, Happy new yea you also
Speaker 2: All right, talk to you soon coming back right after
Speaker 2: the eleven If you want to continue to talk about this, great,
Speaker 2: If not, I'm going to change topics back on night
Speaker 2: side