Congestion pricing began in New York City on Sunday in a bid to ease traffic and pollution and raise money for public transit upgrades, even as legal challenges to the tolling program remain.
The initiative, the first of its kind in the U.S., charges most drivers $9 during peak hours. It affects vehicles entering Manhattan south of 60th Street and covers areas that are typically clogged with traffic, including Times Square, the theater district, Hell's Kitchen, Chelsea and SoHo.
New York City had the world's worst traffic in a 2023 scorecard from INRIX, a transportation data analytics firm, NPR reported. Other congested cities are following the results of the tolling program to determine its viability.
Congestion pricing was an idea born in New York City, conceived by Columbia University professor William Vickrey in the 1950s, The New York Times reported. It has been used in London, Stockholm and Singapore, but didn't gain enough momentum in New York until the State Legislature approved it as part of the 2019 state budget, per The Times.
The plan was to charge passenger vehicles $15 beginning last June. But Gov. Kathy Hochul canceled the start of the program, saying it could hurt the city's economy. Facing pressure from transit advocates, Hochul revived congestion pricing in November with the reduced fee of $9. Motorcyclists will pay less, while commercial truck drivers will pay up to $21.60. Discounts are offered overnight to all drivers.
Transit officials expect the program will reduce the number of vehicles in the area by at least 13%, and that it will raise $15 billion to pay for repairs to subways and increase the number of electric buses, per The Times.
Opponents of congestion pricing say they're not done fighting. The measure has survived several legal challenges but could still be upended by pending lawsuits from New Jersey, where officials have challenged environmental aspects of it, and from suburban counties surrounding New York City, where drivers have fewer mass transit options and say the toll is unfair.
President-elect Donald Trump has said congestion pricing could hurt the city's tourism and business industries and pledged to end it after he takes office on Jan. 20.
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