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For the week of July 1, 2024, we’re looking at how the indefinite delay of the congestion pricing zone will affe൩ct New York City, and how the program would ha♊ve helped traffic and commuters.

Congestion Pricing Zone Indefinitely Delayed

Last month, New York State Go♚vernor Kathy Hochul announced that the plan to create a congestion pricing zone in Manhattan’s central business district (CBD) is indefinitely delayed, after 17 years of planning by the MTA board, NY State Legislature, and the governor’s office.  

The plan was set to go into effect on June 30th 2024, and would have charged drivers who entered Manhattan below 60th Street via one of the following routes: The Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Williamsburg bridges from Brooklyn, the Queens-Midtown tunnel and Queensboro bridge from Queens, the Lincoln and Holland tunnels from New Jersey, and any southbound traffic through 60th Street in Manhattan. Throughway traffic from the West Side Highway, including direct connections from the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, as well as FDR Drive, were excluded.

The policy would have charged all passenger and commercial vehicles a one-time fee of $15 to enter the CBD between peak hours of 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekdays, and 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekends. Motorcycles would pay a lower fee of $7.50 while single-unit and multi-unit trucks would pay more, $24 and $36 respectively. For-hire vehicles would pay a flat per-trip charge of $2.50 and taxis a fee of $1.50. Crossings outside of the peak period would have a 75% reduction. The plan included a 50% discount plus tax credits for low-income drivers and exemptions were carved out for disabled drivers as well as emergency vehicles, school and commuter buses, and specialized government-owned vehicles.

In a statement on indefinitely delaying the policy, Governor Hochul said that the $15 charge could “break the budget of a working or middle-class household” and that “[o]ur policies must support everyday New Yorkers—like our small business people, police officers, firefighters, teachers, health care workers, truck drivers, and not add to their financial burdens”.

However, data from the environmental assessment of congestion pricing done by the MTA—and previously endorsed by Governor Hochul herself—show that only about 11.3% of workers who work in the Manhattan CBD drive to work. The vast majority, an estimated 85.7%, take public transportation while the remaining 3% commute to work by walking, taking a taxi, motorcycle, bicycle or other means.

Manhattan workers including police officers, firefighters, teachers, truck drivers, and health care workers, among many others who commute to work by car, total about 117,973 people. This is only about 4.7% of t🍨he total estimated 2,496,169 people who w♍ork in Manhattan.

Cost of Traffic in NYC

The main goal of the congestion pricing policy in NYC was to reduce the amount of traffic in Manhattan’s central business district, because the traffic in Manhattan south of 60th street was costing the New York City region economically. A study done by the Partnership for New York City calculated that traffic in the region—the primary source of which is the Manhattan CBD—costs the local economy an estimated $20 billion dollars a year.

About $9.17 billion of these traffic costs are because of the travel time loss associated with more traffic. Data from the MTA shows that the 700,000 vehicles that enter the Manhattan CBD have seen their average travel speeds decline 23% since 2010 to about 7.1 mph.

Other economic costs that result from traffic in New York include revenue losses from businesses, exce൩ss fuel and operating costs by both businesses and consumers, and increased operating costs for businesses.

The main goal of the congestion pricing policy in NYC was to reduce the amount of🥃 traffic in Manhattan’s central business district, because the traffic in Manhattan south of 60th street was costing the New York City region economically. A study done by the Partnership for New York City calculated that traffic in the region—the primary source of which is the Manhattan CBD—costs the local economy an estimated $20 billion dollars a year.

About $9.17 billion of these traffic costs are because of the travel time loss associated with more traffic. Data from the MTA shows that the 700,000 vehicles that enter the Manhattan CBD have seen their 𝓀average travel speeds decline 23% since 2010 to about 7.1 mph.

Other economic costs that result from traffic in New York include revenue losses from businesses, excess fuel and operating costs by both businesses and ൲consumers, and increased operating costs for businesses.

Benefits of Congestion Pricing

According to projections from the MTA congestion pricing environmental assessment, congestion pricing was projected to reduce overall traffic by 8.9% in the Manhattan CBD, spurred by a 6% decline in passenger vehicles entering the CBD, and a 55% reduction in truck entries. However, public transit to the CBD was anticipated to increase by about 1.6% overall. This includes a 1.7% increase for MTA subway entries from Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, a 1.7% increase for Metro-North trains from Westchester County and Connecticut, a 1.3% increase for PATH trains from New Jersey, and a 1% increase from LIRR trains from Long Island.

MTA Capital Projects

Another benefit of congestion pricing for the MTA was the additional revenue from not needing to raise tolls. The estimated $5 billion dollars in revenue was going to be capitalized into about $15 billion dollars in bonds the MTA was planning to use on a wide assortment of projects, including the 2nd Ave subway expansion, MTA bus electrification, elevator and escalator replacement, signal modernization, new railcars, power and infrastructure improvements to stations, and more.

As a direct result of the congestion pricing pause, the MTA board voted to cut $16.5 billion dollars from its capital budget on June 26th, just four days before congestion pricing was originally slated to begin.