‘Congestion pricing’ expected to begin in spring
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board on Wednesday (Dec. 6) voted to begin public review of a first-in-the-nation program that will charge passenger and commercial vehicles to enter Manhattan below 60th Street.
If the agency’s “congestion pricing” plan survives a lawsuit filed by New Jersey, car drivers entering the Central Business District would be charged a daily toll of $15. Trucks and private buses would pay $24 or $36, depending on size or type.
The tolls would be in effect from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends, with a rate outside those hours set at $3.75.
Transit and commuter buses would be exempt, and motorcyclists would be charged $7.50. FDR Drive, the West Side Highway and roadway portions of the Hugh Carey Tunnel would be excluded from the toll, and there would be other credits, discounts and exemptions.
Recommendations issued by the MTA’s Traffic Mobility Review Board said the program will shift some of the 900,000 drivers who enter the area each weekday to public transportation and generate $15 billion in capital funding for the MTA, whose Metro-North commuter rail stops at Beacon, Cold Spring, Garrison and Manitou.
Neal Zuckerman, a Garrison resident who represents Putnam County on the MTA board and chairs its Finance Committee, said the tolls are necessary to help fund the agency’s infrastructure needs.
“Ultimately, no one wants to pay more,” said Zuckerman on Wednesday. “But someone has to pay.”
Janno Lieber, the MTA’s chair and CEO, said congestion pricing will spur “less traffic, cleaner air, safer streets and better transit.”
The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA) will lead the monthslong process to finalize the rates. That process will involve in-person and virtual public hearings in early 2024 and a 60-day period for residents to comment on the plan.
The MTA board will then vote on authorizing the TBTA to adopt the rates, with tolling to begin by late spring. As of Nov. 30, contractors had installed 60 percent of the infrastructure needed for collecting tolls, according to the MTA.
Lieber said during a budget discussion in December 2022 that the MTA faced an “existential crisis,” with forecasts concluding that ridership would remain below pre-pandemic levels and that the agency’s deficit would reach $3 billion by 2026.
In August, the MTA resumed fare and toll increases for Metro-North, and its buses, subways, bridges and tunnels after suspending hikes during the pandemic. The increases are expected to generate $117 million this year and additional hikes are planned for 2025 and 2027, the agency said on Nov. 29, when it released a draft budget for next year.
The MTA also said that the $19.3 billion spending plan for 2024 will save $427 million from “operating efficiencies” and is projected to be just the second balanced spending plan in five years.
The savings were required as part of a funding boost from the state that includes an increase in the Payroll Mobility Tax, which is assessed on businesses in New York City, as well as Dutchess, Putnam and the five other counties served by the MTA.
The state raised the tax on New York City’s largest employers to generate an additional $1.1 billion annually for the MTA.
“I am proud of the work that has been done,” said Zuckerman during a Finance Committee review of the budget on Nov. 29. “It’s an extraordinary document.”
By the same token, Cold Spring might consider a similar approach to weekend traffic inundations. The revenue is sorely needed, and could be purposed as investing in the infrastructure that pays to maintain the roads the traffic use.