By Michael V. Cusenza
Following a public comment period in which the MTA received 25,600 written comments and heard from 386 speakers at four public hearings, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board, in its capacity as the board of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, last week approved Central Business District toll rates by a vote of 11 to 1.
The approved toll rates align with rates recommended by the Traffic Mobility Review Board on Nov. 30, 2023, and put forward for public review by the MTA Board on Dec. 6, with a handful of clarifications provided.
Passenger vehicles and small commercial vehicles – sedans, SUVs, pick-up trucks, and small vans – paying with a valid E-ZPass will be charged $15 during the day and $3.75 at night, when there is less congestion, to enter the congestion relief zone in Manhattan below 60th Street. They will be charged no more than once a day.
Photo Courtesy of Marc Hermann/MTA
The MTA Board last week approved Congestion Pricing by a vote of 11 to 1.
“Today’s vote is one of the most significant the Board has ever undertaken, and the MTA is ready,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber. “In advance of day one of tolling, we’ve increased service on 12 subway lines, advanced redesigns of the entire NYC bus network, and implemented the largest service increase in LIRR history. And there’s more to come with the funds raised from congestion pricing – more accessible stations, modernized subway signals, and new expansion projects like Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway and Metro-North Penn Station Access.”
Trucks and some buses will be charged a toll of $24 or $36 during the day to enter the congestion relief zone in Manhattan below 60th Street, depending on their size and function, and $6 or $9 at night. The toll for motorcycles will be $7.50 during the day and $1.75 at night. Yellow taxi, green cab and black car passengers will pay a $1.25 toll for every trip to, from, within or through the zone; customers of app-based for-hire vehicles will pay $2.50. As previously proposed, qualifying authorized emergency vehicles and qualifying vehicles carrying people with disabilities will be exempt. As will school buses contracted with the NYC Department of Education, buses providing scheduled commuter services open to the public, commuter vans licensed with the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission, and specialized government vehicles.
As previously proposed, a 50-percent discount will be available for low-income vehicle owners and a tax credit is available for low-income residents of the Central Business District.
In a statement titled “MTA Board to Outerborough Commuters: Drop Dead”, the City Council Common Sense Caucus wrote, “Congestion Pricing was a fait accompli ever since the New York State Legislature approved the Manhattan Central Business District Tolling Program five years ago, so we fully expected the MTA Board to rubber stamp this multi-billion-dollar tax today. Under this scheme, our constituents, who have the misfortune of living in communities that don’t have adequate public transit options, will now be paying exorbitant fees for transit improvements in communities that already do. At the very least, our MTA overlords could have been truthful about this cynical money grab rather than pretending it’s all about helping the common folk commute.
“We will continue fighting Congestion Pricing in the courts, but this is a sad day for New York City.”
