Vehicles fees Manhattan: In June, New York Governor Kathy Hochul paused the implementation of a congestion pricing plan for New York City, which was set to charge a $15 fee for vehicles entering the Congestion Relief Zone, covering all of Manhattan below 60th Street. The governor expressed concerns that the fee would place financial strain on working- and middle-class families.
However, on Thursday, according to AS News, she introduced a revised plan aimed at saving commuters $1,500 annually while still addressing congestion and pollution. The new proposal includes additional measures to reduce traffic and air pollution throughout the city and secures $15 billion in funding for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).
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All tolls for cars entering the city’s Central Business District (CBD) will be lowered by 40% under the governor’s new plan. “A $15 toll was simply too much in this economic context, as I stated from the beginning.
That’s why our plan lowers the car toll to $9 throughout the day,” Governor Hochul stated. In theory, the revised congestion pricing plan will go into effect on January 5, 2025, at midnight. The MTA Board must first discuss it at its upcoming meeting on November 18.
According to the modified congestion pricing proposal, these will be the new rates:
- Daytime E-ZPass tolls
- Passenger vehicles (once per day): $9
- Motorcycles (once per day): $4.50
- Small trucks and non-commuter buses: $14.40
- Large trucks and sightseeing buses: $21.60
- Tunnel crossing credits reduced by 40 percent of original plan
- Nighttime discounts of 75 percent of daytime tolls
- Per-ride fees for all trips to, from, or within the CBD
- Taxis and black cars: $0.75
- App-based for-hire vehicles: $1.50
“Additionally, some eligible drivers will receive additional discounts, credits and exemptions, such as a low-income volume discount or a qualified disability exemption,” states the governor’s office in a press release. The plan also includes a limit on how much tolls can be raised through 2030 to “help drivers adapt more easily to the program and give the MTA and other stakeholders the ability to monitor data regarding implementation and effects.”
Governor Kathy Hochul’s new plan lowers the original fees for congestion pricing but still gives the MTA the $15 billion it needs for its upcoming improvements. This money will help extend the Second Avenue subway to East Harlem, upgrade signals on several subway lines, and add elevators to over 20 stations to make them more accessible. The plan also includes adding hundreds of new electric buses to the city’s current bus fleet to improve transportation.
