By Michael V. Cusenza
Governor Kathy Hochul on Friday announced that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York State Department of Transportation and New York City Department of Transportation have released the Final Environmental Assessment for the Central Business District Tolling Program and a draft “Finding of No Significant Impact,” prepared by the Federal Highway Administration.
Friday’s release of the documents begins a 30-day period in which they are formally available for public review online. Those who prefer hard copies may view them at locations listed on the website. After the 30 days elapse, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will make its final decision, completing its review of the potential environmental effects of allowing the Central Business District Tolling Program. Following entry into a tolling agreement with the Federal Highway Administration, tolling could begin up to 310 days later, during which contractors would design, build, test and activate tolling equipment.
During that period, a six-member Traffic Mobility Review Board (TMRB) would develop recommended toll rates along with any potential discounts, crossing credits and/or exemptions. The recommendation would be presented to the MTA Board acting in its legal capacity as the board of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, the MTA agency that would collect the tolls. Following the filing and publication of a proposed tolling structure and a public comment period, the MTA would hold a public hearing before any tolling structure is adopted.
Together, the MTA and two departments of transportation are committing $207.5 million over five years for mitigation measures largely focused on environmental justice (EJ) communities and populations. This includes a $47.5 million set aside for a new low-income discount and $5 million for additional monitoring of traffic, air quality, and transit station elements.
As reflected in the Final Environmental Assessment, the mitigation measures would address potential adverse effects in environmental justice communities. New commitments in the Final Environmental Assessment include:
A low-income driver discount program would provide a 25-percent discount for low-income frequent drivers on the full CBD E-ZPass toll rate after the first 10 trips in each calendar month (excluding the overnight period)Taxis and for-hire-vehicles may not be tolled more than once a day
Regional mitigation measures
Provide a discount of at least 50 percent on the peak toll for trucks and other vehicles from at least 12 a.m. to 4 a.m.
Expand NYC DOT’s Clean Trucks Program to accelerate the replacement of old diesel trucks to lower-emission vehicles
Expand NYC DOT’s Off-Hours Delivery Program
Place-based mitigation measures
Retrofit refrigeration trailers (TRUs) at Hunts Point Market from dirty diesel to clean hybrid diesel
Expand electric truck charging infrastructure
Renovate parks and expand vegetative barriers along highways in EJ communities
Install air filtration units in schools near highways
Expand the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s asthma case management program in schools and establish a new asthma center in the Bronx
The TMRB may recommend policies related to discounts and exemptions that go beyond the commitments in the EA.
These commitments are an expansion from the commitments earlier outlined such as prioritizing the electrification of bus depots located in the Bronx and Upper Manhattan EJ communities, providing a tax credit for low-income CBD residents with adjusted gross income less than $60k and eliminating the $10 E-ZPass tag deposit fee.
Program Benefits
Across the 28-county area studied in the environmental review, the assessment finds that of those who commute to work in Manhattan’s Central Business District (CBD), only 11 percent drive and 85 percent use public transportation. By reducing congestion and creating revenue for public transportation, the program would benefit millions of people every day. Through the new package of mitigations, the program will also significantly invest in air quality in environmental justice communities.
Less traffic congestion. New York is among the most congested cities in the United States. Congested streets slow down buses, delay delivery services, raise the cost of doing business, and degrade our quality of life. The Environmental Assessment estimates a roughly 15-20 percent reduction in the number of vehicles entering the Central Business District, or about 110,000 to 143,000 fewer vehicles daily, about as many as enter Manhattan on the Brooklyn Bridge today.
New York City buses serve a greater share of low-income and minority households compared to other modes of transportation, including subways. Local bus speeds have declined 28 percent in the Central Business District since 2010 and Select Bus Service in Manhattan is 19 percent slower than Select Bus Service in other boroughs. While ongoing MTA initiatives such as the bus network redesigns have shown improvement in speeds, congestion pricing would not only improve travel times for bus service, but also paratransit service.
A more equitable, accessible transit system. The program would generate net revenues sufficient to leverage $15 billion for the MTA’s 2020-2024 Capital Program which includes transformational projects. The MTA’s transit system, and particularly the bus network, promotes equity by serving low-income and minority communities. The funding would allow the MTA to progress on its aggressive timeline of completing accessibility improvements, along with performing necessary state-of-good repair work to the more-than-a-century old transit system.
A healthier, more sustainable future. Congestion pricing would improve overall regional air quality with one of the most comprehensive plans the region has implemented to support a greener future. The environmental assessment found in all tolling scenarios an overall decrease in vehicle-miles traveled in the Central Business District and region overall, and that the program would encourage some commuters to shift from their vehicles to transit.
Outreach and Community Engagement Unprecedented in Scope
Over the course of the environmental review process, the Project Partners held 19 early outreach sessions, of which nine were focused on environmental justice communities, 10 meetings with Environmental Justice Technical Advisory and Stakeholder Working Groups, and six public hearings after the release of the draft Environmental Assessment in August 2022. Nearly 950 speakers participated in early outreach sessions and public hearings, combined. Additional meetings were held separately for elected officials, community boards, transit and environmental advocates, and other interested parties.
The MTA and two departments of transportation received and responded to more than 22,000 individual comments and more than 55,000 form submissions. There were more than 25,000 views cumulatively of online videos of the public hearings.
The Environmental Assessment’s Study Area
Incorporating and documenting all public input, the Final Environmental Assessment analyzes the impact of Central Business District Tolling on traffic congestion, transit, air quality and numerous other environmental indicators in 28 counties across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The Study Area contains 22 million people, including 12.3 million residents residing in environmental justice communities, and five Tribal Nations.
The Environmental Assessment assesses impacts to traffic and public transportation for a regional transportation network with 28.8 million journeys per average weekday, 61,000 highway linkage points, 4,600 traffic analysis zones, 44,267 bus stops or transit stations, 4,170 transit routes, and more than a dozen public transportation providers in addition to the MTA, including NJ TRANSIT, PATH, ferries, and regional bus systems including Westchester County Bee-Line, NICE, and Suffolk County Transit.
There’s plenty of opposition to the congestion pricing program. Last week at a rally outside City Hall, several City Council members let it be known that tolling is not the road to take.
“The MTA needs to reel in their spending before they pass on costs to ordinary New Yorkers. One recent NYU study, for example, found that the MTA spent nearly twice as much on consultants for the Second Ave Subway than it did on actually digging the tunnel itself,” Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Ozone Park) said. “And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. This kind of reckless spending needs to be checked—a cash grab like congestion pricing will only continue to fuel their destructive, expensive, wasteful practices.”
