NEW YORK — New York City’s congestion tolling plan, which will provide funding for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, is back on — although it now faces opposition from the President-elect, as well as existing legal challenges.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said today (Nov. 14) that she would support the plan with a new, lower peak-hours toll rate — $9 for most drivers instead of the original $15. Tolling will start in January, possibly on Jan. 5; the initial toll rates will not be raised for at least three years.
“As I said from the start, a $15 toll was just too high in this economic climate. That’s why our plan cuts the daytime toll to $9 for cars,” Hochul said in a press release. “By getting congestion pricing underway and fully supporting the MTA capital plan, we’ll unclog our streets, reduce pollution and deliver better public transit for millions of New Yorkers.”
Hochul blocked institution of the toll plan in June, saying the cost was a “burden to working- and middle-class New Yorkers.” [see “New York governor halts Manhattan congestion pricing …,” Trains News Wire, June 5, 2024]. But the MTA had constructed a capital plan based on the projected $15 billion the toll would generate, and subsequently placed more than $16 billion in projects on hold as a result of the loss of that money [see “New York MTA votes to pause …,” News Wire, June 27, 2024]. The MTA has subsequently released a five-year capital plan calling for more than $68 billion in spending, although less than half that amount was funding, in part because of the lack of toll money [see “New York MTA sets first Open House …,” News Wire, Oct. 15, 2024].
Still to be answered is how well the reduced toll will provide the funding needed for the MTA. A state official told the New York Times that the MTA would still be able to use the toll revenue to secure bond financing, although the payback period might be longer. MTA officials told the newspaper they project the lower toll will generate about $500 million per year, as opposed to the $1 billion projected for the original plan.
Even with Hochul back on board, congestion pricing still faces hurdles. Among them is the opposition of President-elect Donald Trump, who said on social media in May — before the original plan was halted —that he would “terminate” congestion pricing in his first week in office. Through a spokesman, he told the Times that “businesses will flee” the city because of the toll.
The project requires approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation, which the city will seek to obtain before Trump takes office.
Meanwhile, one of the groups involved in a lawsuit against the toll plan — at least nine such suits have been filed — said it will seek an injuction to block the start of tolling. Other suits remain active. Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey, whose state is involved in one lawsuit, said in a statement that he remains “firmly opposed” to the plan, which he called “a way to take money from the pockets of New Jersey resident to bail out the MTA from a mountain of debt.” He said his administration would continue to fight the plan in court.
The MTA further explains congestion pricing on its website. The transit agency’s board is expected to vote on the new tolling plan next week.
Since this is an interstate travel implication(s), especially bordering directly with NJ & CT, shouldn’t there be federal intervention and funding in this matter? OTOH, whereas briges like the Golden Gate Bridge in S.F. CA and the Saginaw Bridge in MI are uniquely and deeply inner state.
ALso, all travelers that enter to or thru NYC via the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels, the interstate Varazano Bridge (I-278) and especially the George Washington Bridge (I-80), (both with direct Interstate Hwy connections), where traffic would have to be separated somehow as through travelers VS inner NYC city traffic, or use the further north Tappan Zee Bridge??
And there are Democrats out there that wonder why they lost the recent elections big time. The MTA is an enormous screwed up mess and they want to balance their budget on the backs of the citizens. I hope they lose all of the lawsuits.
It appears that tour buses still must pay, even though they are saving several dozen cars from entering the city.
I wonder if the calculation of tolling revenue assumes a reduction of incoming traffic paying those fees. You would think so, since a goal is reduced traffic. If ever implemented, the actual cash flow could be significantly less than anticipated. A challenge for MTAs budget.
Usually governments over estimates the benefits and under estimates the cost. Time will tell.
Like it or not, Kathy’s action is entirely legal, fully enabled by the New York State legislature.
I may be a far-right right-wing wing nut, but I’m also a 100% believer in States’ Rights. The Governor of the State of New York has acted entirely legally. President-elect Donald Trump should stay out of it and let the City and State of New York sort out their own mess. As a resident of Wisconsin, I have an opinion but in reality it’s not up to the federal government nor the other 49 states.
Exactly Charles.
Charles,
As a fellow (cranky) ‘Right-winger’, I agree with your points here regarding “States Rights” with respect of Governor Hochul’s actions & reviving the NYC – Manhattan Congestion pricing program.
Per Mr. Hammer’s point/comments above, there does appear to be a (potential) nexus to “Interstate Travel” / interstate commerce, since a number of the key corridors coming into New York are from New Jersey & Connecticut. Presumably these concerns were vetted and analyzed during the environmental process (detailed environmental & traffic impacts analyses in the NEPA process).
HOWEVER, I see two major problems with the Governor’s actions here to “revive” the NYC – Manhattan Congestion Pricing, one being basically “political” and the other involving the federal government (and thus contrary to your “States Right” point above …).
1) The (obvious) “political” issue is namely the fact that Governor Hochul “paused” the NYC – Manhattan Congestion Pricing program last summer (?) because she was concerned about its deleterious impacts on the middle and lower-income drivers (+service drivers, etc.). Now she is reviving this program with a bit of spin / sleight-of-hand by saying the tolls will not be $15 to come into Manhattan per motorist, but only $9.00/motorist instead (and that this $9.00 toll is “fixed” and will not increase for 3-years). Well, OK, but does anyone believe for a second that they (MTA/State-of-New York) won’t raise the tolls when the projected $500M in annual revenue falls shorts of estimates (owing to fewer motorists driving into central Manhattan due to the congestion toll). Of course she is trying to rush this implementation of the Manhattan Congestion-pricing program in before the Trump Administration comes into office next Janaury 20th (and no doubt “Mayor Pete’s” USDOT will greenlight/approve the state’s plan to revive this congestion pricing scheme in NYC, no questions asked ….)
2) The second problem is, I think, more serious as it involves the federal government, and USDOT in particular. As noted in this piece, the feds. (USDOT) will have to approve this revised plan to implement congestion-pricing in Manhattan with the lower ($9.00) toll for motorists. Again, the USDOT will no doubt approve this before January 20th (how could ‘Mayor Pete’ refuse …?) but it seems there could be ongoing oversight/monitoring required by USDOT (and possible additional federal funding to continue the Congestion Pricing operations, M&O, capital needs, etc., unless the state is going to fully fund it?). So, as ongoing federal dollars and oversight are involved in this project, I’m not sure it is entirely a “states rights” issue here.
The sad thing in all of this is that, in an ideal world (which clearly we don’t live in !), “congestion pricing” could be and can be the perfect, market-driven tool to help address/mitigate traffic congestion in urban areas. Manhattan would be the ideal laborartory for this concept, but unfortunately the State of New York/NYC are so incompetent and there is such public distrust of government, that execution of this congestion pricing is very unpopular and likely to be a big mess when it goes forward.
Congestion pricing has been implemented in other major world cities (Singapore and London) and although initially unpopular with the public, they have worked to address congestion and improve reliability for motorists who have to drive into urban centers (and yes people still do drive and pay congestion tolls after implementation).
Sadly, there is such distrust of and dysfunction in all levels of government in the United States, that this “market-based” approach to congestion will never work here ………