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NYC congestion pricing toll plan indefinitely paused by NY Gov. Hochul. Here’s why
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NYC congestion pricing: Impact on NJ drivers
New York plans to start charging a congestion pricing toll on drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street in 2024.
With 25 days to go before the Metropolitan Transportation Authority planned to launch a state-mandated congestion pricing plan for vehicles entering part of Manhattan, the controversial tolling program has been indefinitely snuffed out by a most unlikely suspect: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Hochul issued a pre-taped video statement Wednesday afternoon saying the program would harm New Yorkers dealing with an affordability crisis, but tried to assure residents she is committed to finding additional funds for the MTA and “will continue to find strategies to fight congestion.”
“The idea behind congestion pricing is it’ll encourage many current drivers to switch to transit but now there is a third possibility … drivers can now choose to stay home altogether,” Hochul said. “Let’s be real, a $15 charge may not seem like a lot to someone who has the means but it can break the budget of a middle class household … I cannot add another burden to working-class New Yorkers.”
Hochul said she directed the MTA to “indefinitely pause” the program that was scheduled to begin tolling drivers June 30.
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Gov. Phil Murphy, who has become a loud critic of congestion pricing and sued the federal government over it last year, thanked Hochul for the pause on the program.
“Although we have had a difference of opinion with our colleagues in New York on congestion pricing implementation, we have always had a shared vision for growing our regional economy, investing in infrastructure, protecting our environment, and creating good paying jobs on both sides of the Hudson River,” Murphy said in a statement. “We fully embrace the notion that the success of Manhattan is inextricably linked to the prosperity of the entire tri-state area.”
News of Hochul’s desire to postpone the tolling program — which would charge cars to enter Manhattan below 60th Street $3.75 to $15 depending on the time of day — was first reported Tuesday night by Politico.
The article cited four unnamed sources who said there were concerns about how the plan could impact Democratic House candidates in suburban districts vying for seats in this year’s election as the party tries to take back control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
As recently as two weeks ago, Hochul told an audience at the Global Economic Summit in Ireland that New York City stalled on congestion pricing for 60 years “until we got it done earlier this year.” She proudly proclaimed New York City would be the first in the U.S. to join the likes of London, Stockholm and Singapore where congestion pricing programs were successfully implemented.
“It took a long time because people feared backlash from drivers set in their ways. But, much like with housing, if we’re serious about making cities more livable, we must get over that,” Hochul said.
Hochul has also trumpeted congestion pricing as the answer to improving the environment, the region’s mass transportation system and safer streets.
“We are setting the standard right here in real time how we can achieve cleaner air, safer streets and better transit,” she said at a press conference last June when skies in the region became a dark and unhealthy orange haze after smoke drifted south from forest fires in Canada.
The plan was required, by a state law passed in 2019, to generate at least $1 billion annually for the MTA’s capital program. Hochul offered vague strategies during her statement Wednesday to fill that gaping hole.
“We’ve already had to prepare for the possibility that congestion pricing could be delayed, we’ve set aside funding to backstop the MTA capital plan and are currently exploring other funding sources,” she said. “We remain fully committed to advancing all the improvements New Yorkers have been promised.”
But she did not elaborate on what those various funding sources could be. A question to Hochul’s office about this was not immediately returned.
The toll would have affected New Jersey and other drivers who use the Holland and Lincoln tunnels to get into Manhattan — tunnels that are already tolled by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey — though they were eligible for a $5 credit from the MTA. Low-income drivers, regardless of residence, could also sign up for a 50% discount on peak-hour tolls.
Could impact NYC businesses bouncing back from pandemic
Among the other reasons reportedly cited in her sudden hesitation about congestion pricing is that it could impact businesses in New York City that are trying to bounce back after the pandemic, also in stark contrast to how she characterized the city last year.
“Today we’ve diagnosed the illness. We have the medicine. We can make it better,” she said last June. “And ultimately the body — this vibrant body known as New York City — will be so healthy and vibrant and will live forever because of what we’re doing here today.”
On Wednesday, Hochul said New York City’s recovery “is by no means complete and we cannot afford to undercut this momentum.”
All eyes had been on a federal judge in New Jersey who is expected to issue an opinion this month on a lawsuit filed by New Jersey that sought to require the MTA to conduct a more thorough environmental review of the congestion pricing plan and its potential impact on the Garden State.
Victory lap in New Jersey
Meanwhile, New Jersey’s largest-profile critic of the plan was taking a victory lap.
“After a five-year fight, New York appears to have done right by hardworking Jersey families and backed off their outrageous congestion tax,” U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer said in a statement. “We threw the kitchen sink at New York — and then some — and got it done.”
“Today, Jersey families, their wallets, and the environment won big,” he said. “As I always say, don’t mess with Jersey.”
Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco thanked Hochul “for listening to the concerns of residents and leaders from the greater New York metropolitan area. It is evidently clear that congestion pricing is not a solution for relief, just merely a scheme to redirect negative environmental conditions a few miles away to Bergen County and other neighboring communities surrounding Manhattan.
“This is a major win for the people of Bergen County and all who do business in Manhattan,” Tedesco said.
Advocates are fuming
But advocates of the program are fuming about the about-face. Kate Slevin, executive vice president of the Regional Plan Association, called the about-face a “betrayal.”
“Delaying congestion pricing will only hurt millions of transit riders relying on improvements and hinder the economic success of our broader region,” Slevin said. “It means delays on critical transit projects like the faster service on the A/C line, station upgrades and bus electrification along with all the jobs that they bring.
“This move is a total betrayal of New Yorkers and our climate,” Slevin said. “We call on the governor to stay firm to her commitment to move congestion pricing forward and not cave to politics.”
The RPA, a nonprofit research and advocacy group, first proposed the idea of congestion pricing about three decades ago.
Staff writer Katie Sobko contributed to this story.
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