Congestion Pricing Comes to Manhattan

The toll was first collected on January 5, after a number of court cases in 3 U.S. District courts allowed it to proceed.

The base rate is $9.00 for passenger automobiles starting at 5:00 a.m. on weekdays and 9:00 a.m. on weekends, until 9:00 p.m. daily. The night rate is $2.25, and there is a $3.00 credit off the day rate for vehicles that come through the tunnels from New Jersey and other crossings from the City’s outer boroughs. Tolls are collected through E-Z Pass (the rate is 50% higher for motorists who are billed through the mail). The toll is collected only once daily.  Passengers on NYC taxis are charged an additional 75¢ per ride, and riders on “app taxis” such as Uber’s or Lyft’s are charged an extra $1.50. The tolls will rise to a $12.00 base rate in 2028 and to $15.00 in 2031.

The proceeds will benefit NY state agencies’ capital programs: 80% for New York City Transit (subways, buses, and the Staten Island Railway) and 10% each for the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North. The money is planned to go toward new equipment for subways and railroads, new signal systems, extending Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC), new buses, making more stations accessible for disabled persons, and other capital projects. The toll is expected to raise $500 million per year to finance loans to help pay for $15 billion annual capital improvements.

The New York legislature approved the plan in 2019, but the COVID-19 pandemic and a wave of legal battles delayed the start.  The issue was often whether federal highway officials properly developed the Environmental Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) that are required for such projects. There was no dispute about the reports comprising the record or other facts. Those who sued to halt the program included not only motorists who felt aggrieved about having to pay the toll, but also their elected representatives, labor unions, and neighborhood civic associations.

Three separate matters remained after some cases were consolidated. Judge Lewis J. Liman of the Southern District of New York (in Manhattan) and Judge Leo M. Gordon, assigned to the District of New Jersey, found no highway-official irregularities to stop the tolling program, and Judge Cathy Seibel of the Southern District (in White Plains) came to a similar conclusion. Gordon found some issues needing more clarification and explanation from officials, but he declined to stop or delay the toll. All judges hearing the cases denied requests for such injunctions. New Jersey appealed the last ( Jan 3) denial to the Third Circuit, but it was denied the next day. The tolling began hours later, at midnight.

The State of New Jersey was the lead plaintiff in the New Jersey case, joined by a number of elected officials, all Democrats. In a rare show of political unity, Republicans representing areas in New York State outside Manhattan filed similar actions, and some Democrats in those areas joined them. It seemed that only in Manhattan did public officials support the tolling program. London, Stockholm, and Singapore have similar congestion tolls.

Many riders on NJ Transit and their advocates think that Gov. Phil Murphy and other State officials took the side of the relatively few motorists who drive their vehicles into Manhattan (a much-larger number use transit, particularly NJT trains to Penn Station and buses to Port Authority, along with other modes: ferries, other buses, and PATH. It was always known that New Jerseyans taking transit would not have to pay the toll, State officials did not stress that fact, if they mentioned it at all.

It is expected that more New Jerseyans will take NJT to the City, which will increase NJ Transit’s revenue. We don’t know if demand will increase enough to require more trains and buses to be added to the schedules, but that would also increase the cost of providing service. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul made settlement offers to New Jersey, one of which reportedly amounted to $30 million. Should New Jersey have been a party to the plan, which would have given the Garden State a share of toll revenue? Some advocates said so, and that will probably be debated for years to come.

This writer took the train into Manhattan on Sunday and Monday, January 12 and 13. Traffic near Penn Station and downtown from there was light on Sunday, and appeared significantly lighter on Monday than before the tolling began. Will it stay that way? Time will tell. President Donald Trump said before he came back into office that he opposed the plan and would make an effort to kill it. Will he succeed? Time will tell about that, too. Even if he succeeds, the precedent will have been set.

David Peter Alan has written a detailed series of articles about Congestion Pricing for Railway Age. Those articles can be found on the Railway Age web site, www.railwayage.com.   

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