New congestion pricing toll begins in New York City

MANHATTAN, New York City (WABC) — New York City’s new congestion pricing toll for drivers entering the center of Manhattan began on Sunday, meaning many people will pay $9 to access the busiest part of the Big Apple during peak hours.

The toll is meant to reduce traffic gridlock in the densely packed city while also raising money to help fix its ailing public transit infrastructure.

“We’ve been studying this issue for five years. And it only takes about five minutes if you’re in midtown Manhattan to see that New York has a real traffic problem,” Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chair and CEO Janno Lieber told reporters late Friday after a court hearing that cleared the way for the tolls.

“We need to make it easier for people who choose to drive, or who have to drive, to get around the city.”

New Jersey’s request for a temporary restraining order was denied by a federal judge on Friday.

Governor Murphy’s office plans to appeal the ruling, but the MTA started the program as planned Sunday morning.

The plan launched with reduced base fare of $9, down from the original plan of $15.

Congestion pricing was designed to raise money for the MTA’s capital plan, while reducing traffic in Midtown, by tolling drivers in Manhattan south of 60th Street.

Speaking to Eyewitness News on Saturday, Lieber says the plan has been in the works for a long time.

“We’ve been talking about this in New York for close to 50 years. I mean, Mayor Bloomberg in 2009 got very close. This is historic,” Lieber said.

Here’s the breakdown of how congestion price will work:

Time of day
The peak period toll rate will apply from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays, and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends. The overnight toll rates will be 75% less than the respective rates in the standard peak period for all drivers entering the Congestion Relief Zone.

Type of vehicle

Passenger and small commercial vehicles, and motorcycles

The toll for passenger and small commercial vehicles (sedans, SUVs, pick-up trucks, and small vans) paying with a valid E-ZPass will be $9 during the peak period and $2.25 during the overnight period, when there is less congestion. The toll for motorcycles will be $4.50 during the peak period and $1.05 during the overnight period. These vehicles will be charged only once per day.

Trucks and buses

Small trucks (single-unit trucks) and some buses will pay a toll of $14.40 during the peak period and $3.60 during the overnight period. Large trucks (multi-unit trucks) and tour buses will pay a toll of $21.60 during the peak period and $5.40 during the overnight period.

Eligible trucks and buses are exempt from the Congestion Relief Zone toll.

Taxis and for-hire vehicles

Instead of paying the daily toll, taxis and for-hire vehicles licensed with the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission will be eligible for a smaller per-trip charge paid by the passenger for each trip to, from, within, or through the Congestion Relief Zone.

For both the peak and overnight period, the per-trip charge for high-volume for-hire vehicles will be $1.50. For taxis, green cabs, and black cars, the per-trip charge will be $0.75.

Crossing credits

A credit will reduce Congestion Relief Zone tolls for vehicles using a valid E-ZPass and entering during the peak period via one of the four tolled entries: Lincoln Tunnel, Holland Tunnel, Queens-Midtown Tunnel, and Hugh L. Carey Tunnel. The credit amount will be up to $3 for passenger vehicles, up to $1.50 for motorcycles, up to $7.20 for small trucks and charter buses, and up to $12 for large trucks and tour buses. No crossing credits will be offered overnight when the toll will be reduced by 75% from the peak period toll.

Discounts and exemptions

Discount and exemption plans are available for the Congestion Relief Zone. A discount plan is available for low-income drivers, and exemption plans are available for individuals with disabilities or organizations transporting people with disabilities, emergency vehicles, buses, and specialized government-owned vehicles.

E-ZPass and Tolls by Mail

Customers will be able to use their E-ZPass tags to pay the Congestion Relief Zone toll as they do today to pay tolls on other roads, bridges, and tunnels. Those without an E-ZPass tag will receive a Tolls by Mail bill to the registered owner of the vehicle. Tolls by Mail bills are more expensive and less convenient to pay.

More details about the plan, exemptions, and discounts are available on the MTA website.

The MTA is phasing in the toll structure over a six-year period with an initial $9 peak toll for cars. The toll will increase to $12 in 2028 and then $15 in 2031.

Governor Hochul could not set the base toll lower than $9 without triggering a new federal environmental review that could allow the incoming Trump administration to block it.

President-elect Donald Trump has openly and vehemently opposed congestion pricing, saying last May he would terminate the governor’s plan in his first week of office. But it would become much more complicated for Trump to do that if the governor starts her plan before he is inaugurated in January.

In November, Trump, whose namesake Trump Tower is in the toll zone, said congestion pricing “will put New York City at a disadvantage over competing cities and states, and businesses will flee.”

The new toll is expected to reduce the amount of cars in the city by 80,000 and collect billions of dollars for much-needed transit improvements.

Officials are hoping to convince more commuters to take public transit, but it comes at a time when some high-profile crime has been reported underground.

Over the past two weeks, a man lit a woman on fire. In another case, a rider was pushed onto the subway tracks.

Eyewitness News found murders have doubled from 5 in 2023 to 10 last year leading to a 100 percent increase. Most other crimes have gone down during the same time period. Grand larceny, robbery, and burglary are down by double digits.

Hochul says new transit cameras on every train and National Guard patrols have helped. Meanwhile, the governor announced on Friday new legislation that would make it easier for hospitals to commit patients with severe mental illness and for courts to order outpatient treatment.

For commuters like Donna Daley, she hopes the improvements planned from congestion pricing resolve the ongoing issues within the public transportation system.

“Addressing safety concerns on both the buses and the subways. More outreach for, you know, people who maybe might be homeless or might have mental issues. Also, the fare evasion thing, especially with the buses, is a huge deal,” Daley said.

Some drivers, like Omayra Rolon, say the plan will take a toll on people’s wallets.

“I feel like it’s a lot, the cost for people that live in the city and that are commuting in daily for work,” Rolon said. “And I think that’s going to create more traffic in the zones outside as people are going to be parking and then trying to get to their work from there.”

While he understands people are still not on board with congestion pricing, Lieber says people may start to change their mind once they see the impacts of the plan.

“They’re spending hours stuck in traffic. It’s not good for them, it’s bad for the economy. We have trucks stuck in traffic with materials, and plumbers, and it’s much better for us if we have less congestion,” Lieber said. “We obviously have to have people be able to get in ambulances to hospitals. It’s a benefit for the drivers and it’s also a benefit for the 90% of New Yorkers who do take transit.”

Other big cities around the world, including London and Stockholm, have similar congestion pricing schemes, but it is the first in the U.S.

The toll was supposed to go into effect last year with a $15 charge, but Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul abruptly paused the program before the 2024 election, when congressional races in suburban areas around the city – the epicenter of opposition to the program – were considered to be vital to her party’s effort to retake control of Congress.

Not long after the election, Hochul rebooted the plan but at the lower $9 toll. She denies politics were at play and said she thought the original $15 charge was too much, though she had been a vocal supporter of the program before halting it.

Congestion pricing also survived several lawsuits seeking to block the program, including a last-ditch effort from the state of New Jersey to have a judge put up a temporary roadblock against it. A spokesperson for New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, Natalie Hamilton, said in an email Saturday, that they would” continue fighting against this unfair and unpopular scheme.”

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Some information from the Associated Press

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