As congestion pricing launches, New Yorkers say they’re eager for better, safer subways

Manhattan’s congestion pricing tolls launched Sunday with the goal of not only reducing gridlock by pushing drivers into the subways but also using revenue from the fees to pay for repairs to the MTA’s aging infrastructure.

As New Yorkers woke up to the new tolls — which now charge motorists to enter Manhattan below 60th Street — many wondered when they’d feel improvements to their subway, bus and railroad commutes.

“I think the service is s_____,” said 6 train rider Eddy Pierre Charles. “I’ve been walking mostly now. It’s just unreliable. I don’t know what happened.”

The new charges also went live as many transit riders across the city were on edge following a recent spree of high-profile crimes on the subways, including a woman who died after her clothing was set on fire on an F train and a man who was critically injured after he was shoved in front of a train in Chelsea in what police said was an unprovoked attack.

The number of felony assaults in the subways during the first 11 months of 2024 were up by 60% from 2019, the year before the COVID pandemic hit the city, according to NYPD data.

Charles Moran, 49, who also rode the 6 train the day the tolls launched, said the system is “less safe feeling.”

“It’s just sad that it seems to be on the downward trend,” he said. “I guess the hope (from congestion pricing) would be that more people will end up using the subways.”

MTA Chair Janno Lieber acknowledged the crime concerns among riders during a news conference on Sunday, and said it was the job of the NYPD and court system to keep the subway safe.

“High profile crimes that are alarming New Yorkers are real and we need the criminal justice system to catch all of these maniacs. We need the criminal justice system to put them away, to do something, to make sure that they do not threaten our customers.”

Lieber also noted some improvements to service had already begun, but urged riders to be patient as his team works to use the money from the congestion pricing tolls to repair subway infrastructure. The tolls are required by law to finance $15 billion in upgrades, including new train cars, tracks and electrical equipment.

“We’re going to be completely transparent with everybody about what’s happening,” he said. “Projects will be done on time and on budget. This is a new MTA and I don’t expect folks to notice it every day, but the numbers and the customer satisfaction are moving in the right direction.”

Some longtime riders like 54-year-old Peter Archer noted the subways today are better than they were a half-century ago, when crime and service reached historically dire levels.

“ The subway system was awful when I was growing up in the ’70s,” he said as he got off a train at Grand Central Terminal. “It was like the Warriors. Graffiti all over the place.”

“I think the subway system is better than it’s ever been,” Archer added.