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New York Citys congestion pricing program has been in place for one month, implementing tolls on drivers who enter certain, often gridlocked, areas of Manhattan. And so far, the results are undeniably positive, transit officials say, with measurably reduced traffic and more commuters choosing public transit. The traffic mitigation plan covers a congestion relief zone that spans almost all of Manhattan below 60th street and includes major routes like the Lincoln, Holland, and Hugh L. Carey Tunnels and bridges that go into both Brooklyn and Queens. Since its launch on January 5, one million fewer vehicles have entered that zone than they would have without the toll, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). How does congestion pricing work? Passenger cars with an E-ZPass that travel through that zone face a $9 toll during peak hours, from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends, and a $2.25 toll overnight. Tolls are more expensive for commercial traffic, and vehicles without E-ZPass face a 50% premium. Those charges are meant to reduce traffic in the city and also raise funds for $15 billion worth of transit repairs to the MTA. By cutting traffic and ushering more commuters onto public transit, the program will also reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Its the first such plan in the United States, though congestion pricing has been successfully used in London, Stockholm, Singapore, and other cities. In Stockholm, traffic levels dropped about 25%, and the city saw less pollution and more investment in local infrastructure. And though business owners and residents there criticized the program before its pilot beganmuch like they did in New Yorka majority of voters ended up making that toll permanent. Faster trips, more bus riders New Yorkers are already seeing an impact one month in. Along with fewer drivers in general, the vehicles that still travel through the area are dealing with less traffic. Those crossing through the Holland Tunnel see the most time savings, with average trip times down 48% during peak morning hours. The Williamsburg and Queensboro Bridges are both seeing an average of 30% faster travel times. During afternoon peak hours, drivers in the entire zone are seeing travel times drop up to 59%. More commuters are opting for buses to cross Manhattan, and those buses are now traveling more quickly, too. Weekday bus ridership has grown 6%, while weekend ridership is up 21%, compared to January 2024. (Subway ridership has also grown by 7.3% on weekdays and 12% on weekends, part of a larger trend in ridership growth happening since the fall, per the MTA. Anecdotally, some subway riders have said they’ve seen more packed trains on their morning commutes.) Buses entering Manhattan from Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx are saving up to 10 minutes on their route times, which also makes their arrivals more reliable. This data comes from the MTA, which released figures at the end of January. A full one-month update wont be available until the next MTA board meeting at the end of February; the MTA didn’t yet release any information on the amount of money the program has raised or any air quality impacts. (When it comes to air quality, some groups have raised alarms about how congestion pricing is moving traffic and its associated air pollution to poorer neighborhoods, like the South Bronx.) But it shows a trend, and the traffic impacts are supported by other data, like from the Congestion Price Tracker run by two Brown University students, Joshua Moshes and Benjamin Moshes. Driving from Hells Kitchen to Midtown East at 5:30 p.m. on a weekday took about 25 minutes on average before congestion pricing, per that tracker. This week, its just 15 minutes. Traveling through the Holland Tunnel at 7 a.m. on a Monday once took 23 minutes on average, compared to 14 minutes this week. Some routes, though, like Greenwich Village to Alphabet City within Manhattan are trending almost identically to their pre-congestion pricing patterns. There are also spillover routes like Park Slope to Dumbotwo Brooklyn neighborhoods entirely outside of the congestion relief zonethat are seeing travel times down by about five minutes or less at various times of the day, though the tracker notes that the program’s effect on these routes isn’t yet fully clear. One month of data, though, isnt enough to judge long-term impacts, Moshes told Fast Company. People’s behavior may change with time. We will keep watching the data to see if things change. The future of congestion pricing is under threat by President Donald Trump, who is considering halting the program. (A poll by Morning Consult this week found that 59% of voters say Trump should allow it to continue. Another poll, though, revealed that support is still split, with a majority of drivers against it and a majority of pedestrians, bikers, and transit riders in support.) For right now, at least, congestion pricing is having an immediate impact for commuters. Daniel A. Zarrilli, the chief climate and sustainability officer at Columbia University, shared his firsthand experience on X on January 29: Tonight: 24 minutes from City Hall to Staten Island by express bus during the evening commute, he wrote. Thats gotta be a record. A caller to WNYCs The Brian Lehrer Show earlier in January told the host that his wife, who takes an express bus from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, to Lower Manhattan and back for work, has seen fewer delays every day. She’s getting home earlier every night, he said. I mean, we love it.
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E-Commerce
Fifty years ago, McDonalds purple mascot, Grimace, introduced his uncle in an extremely 70s ad promoting the Shamrock Shake. Uncle OGrimacey was a bumbling, fuzzy, top-hat wearing creature hailing from Ireland, who would go on to rep the Shamrock Shake for a few years before ultimately disappearing into the ether of early McDonalds mascot lore. But now, for the first time since 1975, McDonalds is giving Uncle OGrimacey another shot at the limelight. The green mascots reappearance is promoting the return of the Shamrock Shake, which is set to land at McDonalds stores on February 10. Its also celebrating the 50th anniversary of Ronald McDonald House Charities, which will receive a portion of the proceeds from this years Shamrock Shake sales and Uncle OGrimacey-themed merch. Uncle OGrimaceys unexpected return comes in the wake of McDonalds 2023 birthday campaign for the unsettling-yet-beloved mascot Grimace, which gave the world the oft-memed purple Grimace Shake. In comparison, the Uncle OGrimacey play is a much bigger swing for McDonalds, relying on less character recognition and fewer nostalgia points from customers. And it shows that goofy mascots might just be having an American renaissance. [Photo: McDonald’s] Whoor whatis Uncle OGrimacey? Uncle OGrimaceys stint repping McDonalds in the mid-70s included a few seriously dated ads showing the Irish mascot visiting his nephew. Oddly enough, it also yielded the creation of a hand puppet toy in 1978. When asked what kind of creature Uncle OGrimacey is meant to represent, a McDonalds spokesperson didnt respond directly, instead sharing the following: While the rest of the Grimace family lives in McDonaldland, Uncle OGrimacey resides on a small island off the coast of Ireland called Sham Rock. Back home in Sham Rock, Uncle OGrimacey spends his time going on nature walks, bowling in his local league, and attending the Sham Rock Street Fair and Music Festival (he plays the bagpipe!). They added that his favorite color is green, his nickname is Uncle O, and, for all those who are wondering, hes a Pisces. (Yes, mascot lore is a thing: Hi-Chew’s new mascot, Chewbie, supposedly loves skateboarding and Chapell Roan.) Its unclear whether Uncle O will appear on packaging or in stores, but he has already made his debut on McDonalds socials. Hes also the star of a questionable line of merch from the company, which includes a crewneck, ringer tee, and sweatshirt with the phrase Whos your uncle? next to a graphic of the uncle in question. [Photo: McDonald’s] Why revive Uncle OGrimacey in 2025? McDonald’s sudden investment in a little-known character might seem like a strange move, but it actually makes a lot of sense. Mascotsespecially goofy onesare having a moment right now, spurred on by what Fast Company has termed DGAF branding: a form of indirect social media marketing that leans into all things weird and nonsensical, rather than explicitly hawking a product’s value. The goal is awareness, engagement, and building and tapping into a fan community, as Fast Companys Jeff Beer noted last October. Duolingo was one of the first companies to embrace this strategy with its lovable but occasionally homicidal owl, Duo. Brands like Pop-Tarts and Nutter Butter (if you can call its peanut a mascot) have followed suit. Out in the real world, sports mascots like the 2024 Summer Olympics’ Phryge, the New York Libertys Ellie the Elephant, and the Philadelphia Flyers Gritty are embodying wackier personas that appear curated to go viral. McDonald’s new mascot of DGAF branding McDonalds got in on this trend with the Grimace Birthday Meal in 2023, which inspired a bout of feel-good articles about the mascot and spawned the Grimace Shake trend, wherein dozens of TikTok users put a deadly spin on the purple beverage. (Grimace then acknowledged the trend from McDonalds X account.) While McDonalds didnt respond to Fast Companys request for specific data on the Grimace activations success, its been enough for the company to keep the purple creature around. Grimace experienced another bout of fame over the summer, after his opening pitch at a New York Mets game was credited with saving the teams postseason run. Now it seems that the company is trusting the internet to do what it does best and run with this new character. Of course, the trick that will determine the success of McDonald’s 2025 Shamrock Shake campaign is whether it can get its fan base to engage with a lesser-knownif similarly shapedmascot. Would any fan be as happy if a celebrity’s similar-looking relative showed up instead? The people want Britney, not Jamie Lynn. O’Grimacey’s ability to win hearts will come down to whether he can sell the lore as a strong personality hireand if McDonald’s new DGAF mascot can make fans give an F about Shamrock Shakes.
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E-Commerce
President Donald Trumps return to office has inspired hats north of the border, while Republicans have turned his expansionist foreign policy pronouncements into shirts for fundraising. The campaign might be over, but the merch has just begun. After Ontario Premier Doug Ford wore a Canada Is Not for Sale hat earlier this month at a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other premiers (the Canadian equivalent of a U.S. governor), the hats maker, Ottawa-based Jackpine Dynamic Branding, was overwhelmed with orders. Trumps statements about tariffs and annexation have struck a nerve with our neighbors to the north. Nothing is more important than the country, Premier Ford said during a press conference while wearing the hat. President Trump wants to devastate Canada. He wants to devastate Canada through economic sanctions and tariffs. Thats unacceptable. [Image: Jackpine Dynamic Branding] The $45 hats spell out the slogan in Times New Roman, the same font as used for Trumps original Make America Great Again hatsand because this is Canada, theres also a version in French: Le Canada nest pas vendre. Jackpine founder Liam Mooney told Reuters he was inspired to create the hats as a response to Trumps unseemly rhetoric toward Canada and as a statement about nationalism and unity. It’s an opportunity to bring people together from all of civil society, regardless of political persuasion, he said. Our sovereignty is threatened when our dignity is disrespected. Meanwhile, Republicans are fundraising off Trumps second-term priorities for the U.S. sphere of influence in the Americas. The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is out with $35 tees showing an illustrated bald eagle with Trump hair relaxing on a beach chair with a beer, featuring the words, Greetings from the Gulf of America to celebrate Trumps executive order unofficially renaming the Gulf of Mexico. To sell the Trump National Committee joint fundraising committees own $35 Gulf of America! tee, a recent Trump campaign fundraising email asked recipients if they live near the Gulf of Mexico? followed by, Well, now you dont! It’s also selling Make Greenland Great Again tees. No word yet on official Panama Canal merch, but a third party is selling Make Panama Canal American Again shirts on Amazon. A promotional graphic for the NRCCs Greetings from the Gulf of America tee (top) and two Trump National Committee JFCs tees The Canada Is Not for Sale hat is a statement of nationalism and sovereignty, and apparently, the Gulf of America and Make Greenland Great Again tees are meant to communicate much the same thing. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum responded to Trump earlier this month by joking that North America should be renamed América Mexicana. (Nothing of this ilk has been printed yet as merch, but, um, give it time. . . . ) Most contemporary political merch tends toward sloganeering over policy proposals (although a No Tax on Tips decal sold by the Trump campaign during the 2024 race was a rare exception). Still, its not as if the Republicans new foreign-policy-themed merch is focused on, say, bringing peace to the Middle East or remaining competitive with China. What is Gulf of America, really, but sloganeering? This story originally appeared in Yello, a newsletter about politics, art, branding, and design.
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E-Commerce
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