Congestion Pricing Tolls Now In Effect in Manhattan’s CBD
NEW YORK—Seven months after the “pause” to put toll collection in place to support MTA capital improvements, Congestion Pricing went into effect in the Central Business District of Manhattan on Sunday morning at midnight on Jan 5. The MTA announced that “vehicles entering the Congestion Relief Zone in Manhattan — local streets and avenues at or below 60th Street — are now being charged a toll.”
According to the studies and claims by the transit authority, the toll “will result in at least 80,000 fewer vehicles entering the zone every day, relieving crowding in what is today the most congested district in the United States.” Initial projections stated the plan would raise $1 billion annually for the MTA to support up to $15 billion for improvements to the transit system it manages, including the Metro-North Railroad and the Long Island Rail Road.
Passenger cars using E-ZPass will pay a $9 toll to enter Manhattan’s CBD during peak hours. The toll for a passenger car without an E-ZPass is $13.50. The E-ZPass passenger car toll will increase to $12 in 2028 and then $15 in 2031.
Ceremonial unveilings have long been part of the job—the fun part—for MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber who took the spotlight late Saturday night at Broadway and W. 62nd St. in Manhattan for the unveiling of the tolling program. He and an MTA employee were hoisted in a bucket truck to remove the covering that had been shielding the Congestion Pricing signs from view until just prior to the tolling equipment being switched on.
“We’re doing something that is for our kids; we’re doing something that proves that the city is not paralyzed to deal with the challenges,” Mr. Lieber said. “We’re doing something that’s about cleaner air and safer streets and less traffic and better transit. We’re doing something that’s historic. It’s the first in the nation. This is New York getting ready to be the city for the 21st century. We’ve opened two railroad terminals in the last couple of years. We fixed LaGuardia Airport. We’re fixing JFK and now we’re dealing with traffic, which is really an existential problem for New York. We’ve been working on this for five years. But you stand in Midtown for five minutes and you know we’ve got to deal with the traffic problem. Now we’re showing the world that in New York we do something about our challenges.”
New York City now joins London, Milan, Singapore, Stockholm and Gothenburg, Sweden where drivers must pay to pass into urban central business districts. The toll charges are collected with the intent to reduce the environmental impact, improve accessibility and fund infrastructure.