Posted on 11/14/24
| News Source: Audacy
NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Thursday a proposed $9-a-day modified version of Manhattan congestion pricing, months after pausing the original plan that would have charged $15 for most cars entering lower Manhattan.
“And I’m proud to announce we have found a path to define the MTA, reduce congestion, and keep millions of dollars in the pockets of our commuters,” Hochul said. “Under this plan, the MTA will be able to implement a congestion pricing program with a reduced daytime toll of $9 beginning in January. You heard that correctly—it was $15 before, and now it is $9. That’s a 40% reduction. This lower toll will save daily commuters nearly $1,500 annually, and that kind of money makes a big difference for our families.”
The original plan was set to go into effect in June.
While the adjustment aims to ease the financial burden, some drivers still say the cost is too high. “I think it’s very expensive,” one commuter told 1010 WINS.
The Riders Alliance, a group that advocates for public transit, supports the plan and welcomes the governor’s decision. “$9 will raise several hundred million dollars to fix the subway,” Spokesman Danny Pearlstein told 1010 WINS.
Congestion pricing was paused indefinitely by the governor weeks before its planned implementation with her attributing the decision to the economic burden the toll would put on working and middle class commuters in an area still recovering from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, it was also widely seen as a political move to help Democrats in closely watched congressional races in the city’s suburbs. The fee would come on top of the already hefty tolls to enter the city via some river crossings, and Republicans were expected to use it as a cudgel in an election heavily focused on cost-of-living issues.
The revival comes just before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, where he could block the plan. While some Democrats who supported congestion pricing won their races, Trump also prevailed and has vowed to terminate the program once he returns to the Oval Office in less than two months.
Hochul had long maintained that the program would eventually resurface but had previously provided no clear plan for its implementation or how to replace the billions of dollars it was expected to generate to support New York City’s struggling public transit system.
Laura Gillen, a Democrat who last week won a close election for a House seat on Long Island, responded to the congestion pricing news with dismay.
“We need a permanent end to congestion pricing efforts, full stop. Long Island commuters cannot afford another tax,” Gillen wrote on the social media site X after Politico first reported on the governor’s efforts to restart the toll program.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy criticized the announcement, calling it “the worst time” to impose additional costs as Americans face economic strain and inflation.
"This effort has always simply been a way to take money from the pockets of New Jersey residents to bail out the MTA from a mountain of debt," Murphy said in a statement.
Murphy urged Hochul to reconsider and vowed to continue fighting the proposal in court.
Proponents of the congestion pricing plan—who argue the plan is needed to help the environment, ease gridlock and provide funds to public transit—have launched lawsuits against the governor to reinstate the toll, calling her pause a political overreach and election-year stunt.
The move would ease these critics while providing the financially-troubled MTA with about 60% of the originally projected $1 billion in annual revenue.
Like many subway riders from the outer boroughs, Marisol from Ozone Park also drives and says the fee is unaffordable. “They always promise and you know, everything is the same,” she said, expressing doubt that the money raised will improve subway service.
Meanwhile, Michael from Flatbush, another car-owning subway rider, supports congestion pricing and hopes it’s implemented soon. “So many people in the city for Christmas, it’s a great time for people to see how wonderful it can be to be in Manhattan without all the traffic,” he said. His only regret? “That the fee isn’t $50.”
Andrew Albert, a member of the MTA board, said earlier this week that he supported the return of the fee but worried that $9 would not be enough to achieve the policy’s goals.
“It doesn’t raise enough money, it doesn’t clear enough cars off the streets or make the air clean enough,” he said.