NYC congestion pricing plan approved by MTA board; $9 tolls get green light
NEW YORK -- The MTA board on Monday fast-tracked Gov. Kathy Hochul's plan to to finance mass transit with congestion pricing, rubber-stamping her plan to charge drivers a fee to enter Manhattan's Central Business District.
The board voted to pass the plan with the new base toll of $9 to enter below 60th Street. Scheduled to begin in early January, the plan is designed to to provide $15 billion in funding for signal modernization, accessibility improvement, the expansion of the Second Avenue Subway line, and more projects. It is the first tolling plan on its kind in the nation.
As CBS News New York's Marcia Kramer reports, there are plans in place to raise the toll twice in the next six years.
The congestion pricing toll would get as high as $15 in 2031
The vote came after a joint MTA committee meeting was held before the regular board meeting Monday morning. A livestream of the meeting was available on the MTA's website.
Members of the public were invited to comment, either virtually or in person. Anyone who wanted to comment was allowed to speak for up to two minutes.
There was only one dissenting vote as the board agreed to the governor's plan to finance mass transit upgrades by charging cars, trucks and motorcycles a fee to enter Manhattan below 60th Street. Cars will pay $9 -- a 40% cut from the original tab of $15 -- but fares and tolls at the MTA go up on a regular basis and congestion pricing will be no exception.
The toll with rise to $12 in 2028 and to $15 in 2031, Kramer reported.
"I can't vote for this," board member David Mack said.
Mack attacked city officials for not helping to relieve congestion by going after cars and trucks double parking, and he said there were several other ways to finance mass transit upgrades.
"You have five to seven bridges that are not tolled. You would be spreading the burden for everyone," Mack said.
However, Mack was the lone wolf on the board. Everyone else embraced the plan, which will pay for things like extending the Second Avenue Subway, electric buses, and new signals in the 120-year-old subway system.
"This will be transformational for New York City. I want to thank the governor for unpausing the pause," board member Dan Gorodnick said.
Hochul aims for congestion pricing in January 2025
In order for the plan to go into effect, the new pricing structure had to pass an MTA vote. It still needs to go through a federal review process, and the cameras that were installed to scan E-ZPasses and license plates will need to be tested.
Hochul said the plan will still be able to raise those funds for the MTA despite the cheaper toll.
"We're still getting the $15 billion to fund the MTA, and drivers are paying $6 less," she said Thursday. "Some skeptics predicted we would never find a path that would lower tolls while still addressing congestion and the important funding of public transit that millions of New Yorkers rely on, but that's exactly what we did."
Congestion pricing was supposed to start in June, but Hochul slammed the brakes on the plan just a few weeks before its launch date, saying the city had not yet recovered economically from the COVID-19 pandemic and voicing concerns about "unintended consequences for New Yorkers."
The plan has faced pushback from a range of critics, including elected officials across the Tri-State Area and President-elect Donald Trump, who has said he would kill congestion pricing.
"Only in New York can the governor hit you with thousands of dollars in additional fees and somehow try and tell people she's saving you money," said Hempstead Supervisor Dan Clavin, who has filed a lawsuit against the MTA. "And now they're going to be forced to pay this fee.
"The fact of the matter is, this is a regressive tax that is going to be on the commuters, forcing them to pay additional money just to go to work," Clavin added. "I would tell people if they can, submit your opposition. There's power in voices together."
Advocates say the tolling plan will help ease congestion in Manhattan, improve air quality and fund much-needed public transportation projects.
The MTA will face issues collecting tolls
The MTA will face one problem right off the bat -- drivers with ghost plates who will try to avoid paying. Kramer asked MTA CEO Janno Lieber if that would mean putting police officers at all the entrances to the congestion zone.
"You're right to focus on it, Marcia, because we have to make sure everyone understands this is not a game, where you can try to circumvent it. This is deadly serious and it's not just about congestion pricing; it's about the sense that you can rip off other New Yorkers to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars," Lieber said.
Lieber said he would also ask the governor and the Legislature to pass a bill that would allow police to immediately confiscate ghost plates, paper plates and other devices that attempted to circumvent toll cameras. Right now, police can only issue tickets.