New York is up in arms right now over discussions about charging people who enter Manhattan during weekdays by car.  The buzz term given to Bloomberg’s plan is “congestion pricing.”

It is questionnable what the peak capacity is for the global population.  Numbers keep going up in many developing countries while some first world countries have birth rates below 2.0.  Still, the issues facing many Western countries is what to do with all the people.

For the longest time our public and private institutions have installed rather democratic/socialistic methods for distributing goods and services to the public.  Most highways are free, and those that charge do so at a flat, unbiased rate.  Similarly, the lines at McDonalds are first come first serve. 

Favoritism has always been present at the top - take VIP shopping at Nieman Marcus or Platinum Air Travelers as examples - but now more than ever this system is trickling down.  It may not be favoritism per se, but forecasts show that if you are willing to pay you’ll get in first. 

Example: VIP concert tickets to large festivals.  It used to be you had to get them through a social network.  Now you can buy them and enter a venue through separate doors with separate seating and separate bar areas.  A coworker of mine just had one such experience at the Blues/Jazz fest in New Orleans this year.  He was in bleechers above the masses for the entire event.

Example: Overnight delivery of your purchases on Amazon.  If you have the cash you’ll get yours first.

Congestion Pricing for roads will continue to grow.  London put it in, New York probably will, and other cities will continue to tax personal transport.  I wonder how far this will go?  Will McDonalds put in another drive-through window for people willing to pay twice the cost for a burger?  What other brands are/will build in congestion pricing into their sales structure?

As we fill what is left of America’s open spaces, we will continue to demand life remain easy and ever-faster.  To do so, public and private services will become ever-more tiered in favor of those who are willing to pay more than the next guy.