Sam Schwartz has been working on transportation issues in the city ever since the Lindsay Administration. (And even before that, as a New York City cab driver.) In early March, Schwartz, a traffic engineer and former New York City Department of Transportation traffic commissioner, released his most unconventional idea yet, a blueprint of sorts for the future of New York City’s transportation infrastructure. He called his plan the “More Equitable Transportation Formula for NY Metro Area.”

In his presentation, Schwartz will discuss his proposed plan “fair pricing,” which adds tolls to the East River bridges (which are currently free) while also lowering the tolls on the bridges that do not enter Manhattan, such as the Throgs Neck and the Verrazano-Narrows. The goal is to discourage people from driving into “the central business district,” a.k.a. Manhattan.