Drivers Entering NYC Can Expect a New Fee

UPDATE Nov 19, 2024 10:05 AM CST

In what will be the first plan of its kind in the nation, the board of New York City's MTA on Monday approved a plan to allow congestion pricing for most drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street. Per WABC, the board voted to start with a base toll of $9 that would last through 2027. That fee would rise to $12 in 2028, then $15 in 2031—the originally proposed toll that faced major backlash. There was one dissenting vote to the proposal, which is set to take effect in early January. "I can't vote for this," board member David Mack said, noting that city officials should instead do more things like going after vehicles that are double-parked, per CBS News.

Nov 14, 2024 5:08 PM CST

The New York City congestion pricing plan that Gov. Kathy Hochul put on "indefinite pause" weeks before it was due to take effect in June has been revived with a lower price. The toll for cars to enter the "Congestion Relief Zone" in Manhattan during peak hours has been cut from $15 to $9, the Washington Post reports. The plan, the first of its kind in the nation, has a tentative start date of Jan. 5 next year, reports PIX11. Under the updated plan, drivers who make less than $50,000 a year will get a discount after their 10th toll of the month.

Hochul said Thursday that she paused the plan, intended to cut congestion and pollution while raising money for transit systems, because she was worried about the impact on "hard-working families." "As I said from the start, a $15 toll was just too high in this economic climate," she said. "This lower toll will still allow us to accomplish all, and I mean all, of the goals of congestion pricing." Critics accused the Democratic governor of pausing implementation to help Democratic candidates win tight House races last week in districts where the plan is unpopular, the Times Union reports.

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The plan still has to pass a Nov. 18 Metropolitan Transit Authority vote on the new price, CBS New York reports. It also needs federal approval, which it's unlikely to get after the end of the Biden administration. President-elect Trump has criticized the plan, and it's not clear whether introducing it before he takes office will "prevent him from pulling the plug," reports the Times Union. "We're going to be working with President Trump to see what can be done to effectively undo that authorization," Republican Rep. Mike Lawler said. Lawler, who represents a district just north of New York City, plans to introduce a bill to strip the MTA of federal funding if congestion pricing is introduced. (More congestion pricing stories.)