New York City’s congestion pricing program launched Sunday morning at one second after midnight, charging tolls to drivers entering Manhattan at 60th Street and below. It’s the first such plan in the country.
Just after 7 a.m. on Sunday, hundreds of cars, a handful of yellow cabs and several food trucks drove off the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan. The bustling business district on the East Side stands right at the perimeter of the congestion pricing zone.
Digital screens inside subway trains early Sunday morning advertised the new policy. “Congestion pricing is here,” one message read on a Bronx-bound 2 train, alongside an address for an MTA informational website. “Less congestion, better future.”
The program’s debut follows five years of environmental review, public hearings, legal challenges, a “pause” declared by Gov. Kathy Hochul last June just as the tolls were scheduled to begin, and a last-ditch effort by the state of New Jersey and other entities to halt the program.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority intends congestion pricing to reduce gridlock in midtown, cut air pollution and raise money for improvements to public transit.
It has been a long time coming: various plans to reduce traffic in Manhattan have been floated for 50 years — including a proposal to ban private cars from midtown during peak business hours.
New York is now the most congested city in the world, according to INRIX, a traffic data company. It was fourth in 2019, when congestion pricing was approved by the state legislature.
Danny Pearlstein, a spokesperson at the Riders Alliance, said on Thursday that New York also has the slowest buses in the country. People paying a premium for express buses from the outer boroughs get trapped in traffic, making for “long, punishing commutes.” With congestion pricing, he said, “hopefully we’ll be restoring some value to these folks.”
Among the groups expressing opposition to the plan, FDNY EMS Local 2507, the union representing the city’s EMTs and paramedics, advised those working in the toll zone to request a transfer.
“The union is urging members to submit their transfer paperwork urgently, given the steep fiscal implications — $45 [a] week — for its members, who are the lowest paid of any of New York City’s front line first responders,” the union said in a statement.
Under the revised plan, passenger cars are charged $9 at peak hours, collected via E-ZPass sensors set up at various entry points. Trucks and those without an E-ZPass pay more; drivers entering after 9 p.m. pay less. The plan was approved in May 2024, but Gov. Kathy Hochul paused the plan at the 11th hour, saying the $15 tolls for passenger cars were too burdensome.
With Bahar Ostadan
Check back for updates on this developing story.
New York City’s congestion pricing program launched Sunday morning at one second after midnight, charging tolls to drivers entering Manhattan at 60th Street and below. It’s the first such plan in the country.
Just after 7 a.m. on Sunday, hundreds of cars, a handful of yellow cabs and several food trucks drove off the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan. The bustling business district on the East Side stands right at the perimeter of the congestion pricing zone.
Digital screens inside subway trains early Sunday morning advertised the new policy. “Congestion pricing is here,” one message read on a Bronx-bound 2 train, alongside an address for an MTA informational website. “Less congestion, better future.”
The program’s debut follows five years of environmental review, public hearings, legal challenges, a “pause” declared by Gov. Kathy Hochul last June just as the tolls were scheduled to begin, and a last-ditch effort by the state of New Jersey and other entities to halt the program.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority intends congestion pricing to reduce gridlock in midtown, cut air pollution and raise money for improvements to public transit.
It has been a long time coming: various plans to reduce traffic in Manhattan have been floated for 50 years — including a proposal to ban private cars from midtown during peak business hours.
New York is now the most congested city in the world, according to INRIX, a traffic data company. It was fourth in 2019, when congestion pricing was approved by the state legislature.
Danny Pearlstein, a spokesperson at the Riders Alliance, said on Thursday that New York also has the slowest buses in the country. People paying a premium for express buses from the outer boroughs get trapped in traffic, making for “long, punishing commutes.” With congestion pricing, he said, “hopefully we’ll be restoring some value to these folks.”
Among the groups expressing opposition to the plan, FDNY EMS Local 2507, the union representing the city’s EMTs and paramedics, advised those working in the toll zone to request a transfer.
“The union is urging members to submit their transfer paperwork urgently, given the steep fiscal implications — $45 [a] week — for its members, who are the lowest paid of any of New York City’s front line first responders,” the union said in a statement.
Under the revised plan, passenger cars are charged $9 at peak hours, collected via E-ZPass sensors set up at various entry points. Trucks and those without an E-ZPass pay more; drivers entering after 9 p.m. pay less. The plan was approved in May 2024, but Gov. Kathy Hochul paused the plan at the 11th hour, saying the $15 tolls for passenger cars were too burdensome.
Check back for updates on this developing story.
