New York revives plans for congestion charging with reduced $9 toll

New York is reviving plans to introduce the US’s first-ever congestion charge for vehicle traffic, with a reduced $9 toll set to apply to cars entering the lower half of Manhattan from January.

Kathy Hochul, the New York governor, in June halted a landmark plan to charge $15 for drivers entering Manhattan’s traffic-clogged streets, sparking a furious backlash from transport and climate advocates.

But a week after Donald Trump, who earlier this year vowed on the campaign trail to quickly “terminate” congestion pricing in his New York City home town, won the US presidency, Hochul announced she was resurrecting the charge, albeit at a lower price.

“No New Yorker should pay a penny more than absolutely necessary and $15 was simply too much,” Hochul said on Thursday, citing the rising costs New Yorkers face for rent, food and childcare.

The revised system, to start in January, will generate $15bn to aid a major overhaul of New York’s creaking public transport system, funding repairs to a decrepit subway and bringing a fleet of new electric buses online for underserved parts of the city. Low-income drivers will get discounts, Hochul said, and the fee will also drop after 9pm to encourage late-night deliveries.

“It will drive down gridlock and emissions as intended,” the governor, a Democrat, said. “I might not always take the easy path, but I will take the right path for the people of this great state now and into the future.”

The plan is expected to be approved by New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the outgoing administration of Joe Biden, which has been supportive of the idea and needs to sign off on it before Trump re-enters the White House on 20 January, making it harder for Trump to kill it off.

“Implementing congestion pricing will be a major win for the future of New York’s transportation system, cleaner air, and the governor’s climate legacy,” said Justin Balik, senior state program director at Evergreen Action, an environmental group.

“The incoming Trump administration poses a serious and immediate risk to the country’s climate progress, and Governor Hochul is moving to safeguard New York’s ability to meet climate goals.”

New York state lawmakers first legislated congestion pricing in 2019, targeting Manhattan below 60th Street, with the aim of funding the ailing MTA and helping ease the dire traffic that routinely snarls the most public transport-rich city in the US. About 700,000 vehicles enter the lower half of Manhattan each day, often at a crawl – the average travel speed is now around 7mph, down from about 9mph 15 years ago.

“New Yorkers want cleaner air, safer streets and public transit that works for them,” said Janno Lieber, chief executive of the MTA. “The basics of human existence are at stake here,” he added, pointing out that ambulances and police cars are often held up by the traffic.

The city was seen as the ideal first American staging ground for an idea embraced by numerous other places around the world – about half of New York City households do not have a car, with 85% of commuters to Manhattan using the city’s network of subways, trains and buses to get there. It was originally estimated that only 1.5% of all commuters under the plan would pay the full fee.

But congestion pricing has been unpopular within areas of New York where public transport is sparse, as well as farther-flung places where commuters into the city typically arrive by car. Phil Murphy, governor of New Jersey, has sued to halt the plan and opposition to the new iteration has already surfaced among New York’s Republican representatives.

“Congestion pricing is nothing more than a scheme to squeeze more money out of New Yorkers,” said Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican whose congressional district includes New York City’s Staten Island.

“This isn’t about reducing traffic; it’s about funding a mismanaged and bloated MTA at the expense of hard-working families.”