What you need to know about congestion pricing (upd. August 9)
The debate over the future of congestion pricing has been a white hot topic for New York City with the Governor’s indefinite “pause” keeping it in the headlines and on the minds of New Yorkers well past its planned June 30 start date.
Unfortunately, even before the pause, there’s been a whole lot of misunderstandings (and misinformation!) about congestion pricing and how it will impact New Yorkers floating about, even with all the reports, studies, and resources out there. So much so that it can be hard for even the most dedicated transit advocates to wrap their heads around.
So we’ve broken down the basics and compiled some helpful resources here for anyone who’d like to learn more about congestion pricing. Here you’ll find answers to common questions and links to relevant articles and reports that’ll get you up to speed on pretty much anything you need to know about congestion pricing.
The Basics!
What is it?
Congestion pricing, formally called the Central Business District Tolling Program, is a plan designed to raise money for transit projects and to intentionally reduce the number of cars coming into the city for safer, more walkable streets and cleaner air. To do that, drivers will be charged $15 once a day to drive into lower Manhattan (south of 60th Street), also known as the Central Business District or CBD.
There are some exemptions and discounts:
The base toll is $15 from 5am-9pm on weekdays, and 9am-9pm on weekends.
There is a 75% discount overnight, bringing the base toll to $3.75.
Eligible low-income New Yorkers can apply for a 50% discount, effective after the first 10 tolled trips in any calendar month.
People with disabilities can apply for an Individual Disability Exemption Plan, which will exempt them from paying the toll.
Okay, but why $15?
The toll was set to $15 by the Traffic Mobility Review Board (TMRB), an independent board to set the rules for the program.
If $15 sounds like a lot, that’s the point. The goal of the program is to discourage driving into the city and raise enough money to complete big, expensive transit projects. $15 accomplishes both.
Less cars coming into New York means:
Faster buses
Less air pollution
Less traffic crashes
$15 billion for new transit projects means:
Faster subways (signal upgrades)
New buses and trains (less breakdowns and delays)
New subway stations
100,000 well-paying union jobs for New Yorkers
Who will be impacted by the toll?
Roughly 1,300,000 people commute to the CBD daily, but only a fraction of them, about 143,000, drive to work.
Meanwhile, 85% of CBD commuters already take public transit.
Of the 143,000 who would pay the toll:
The majority, about 100,000, are driving in from New Jersey.
The majority, about 60%, earn more than $100,000/year.
The Pause
What happened?
In early June, Governor Hochul announced what she described as an “indefinite pause” on congestion pricing. This was just three weeks before the toll was supposed to start on June 30 and after the State of New York spent nearly four years and nearly $1 billion on implementing the program.
To be clear, the Governor does not have the authority to “pause” or unpause laws as she sees fit. She was able to enact her pause by ordering the NYS DOT Commissioner to not sign a specific document, halting the process of implementing congestion pricing.
This is important because it is at the core of why the Governor is being sued (more on this later).
Why it’s really bad.
There is no way to effectively “pause” a plan to finance $15B of transit projects with three weeks notice and no replacement. Current and future plans will need to be altered. That isn’t simple or free.
By delaying congestion pricing, the Governor has put $15 billion of essential MTA infrastructure upgrades at risk.
Some immediate and future impacts:
23 subway elevator projects have been deferred
New subway car and 250+ electric bus orders have been deferred
Signal upgrades on the A/C/B/D/F/M lines deferred
100,000 well-paying jobs are suspended
These negative impacts compound into additional issues
Running old, outdated buses and trains costs more (fuel, labor, maintenance, cost of delays).
Those unexpected costs inevitably turn into new fare hikes and service cuts just to maintain.
Federal funding that was supposed to match state revenue from congestion pricing can be revoked, effectively canceling projects like the 2nd Avenue Subway extension.
Why we’re suing the Governor
In July, represented by lawyers from Earthjustice, Riders Alliance filed as plaintiffs alongside the Sierra Club and NYC-EJA in a lawsuit against the Governor and the New York State Department of Transportation.
Specifically, we’re suing on the grounds that Governor Hochul’s obstruction is in conflict with New York State climate laws that compel her to implement policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In addition, there is a separate lawsuit filed by the City Club of New York.
In their case, the argument is that by “pausing” congestion pricing Governor Hochul has violated the State Constitution by arbitrarily refusing to implement congestion pricing as mandated by law.
What happens next
The Governor’s messaging since pausing congestion pricing has been incoherent. She maintains that the pause is only temporary while insisting that she will find alternative revenue streams to fill the $16.5 billion budget deficit that was created through the pause.
The problems with this:
“Finding” $16.5 billion to restore funds to the current MTA Capital Plan will require new budget cuts and/or tax hikes.
There is no alternative funding plan that will also reduce traffic congestion and air pollution, as congestion pricing will.
Any alternative plans will need to be approved by state lawmakers in the next legislative session, which won’t even start until January. The longer this pause remains, the harder it will be to salvage any deferred projects congestion pricing was to fund.
This all also assumes state lawmakers will be inclined to bailout the Governor after blatantly disregarding the mandate of the law as passed by the legislature.