News & Resources / New York Pauses Congestion Pricing Plans

New York Pauses Congestion Pricing Plans

Fed-Up Drivers

In June, New York Governor Kathy Hochul dropped a bombshell announcement about a proposed toll for entrance into the central business district of New York City. The idea has been floated for years as a strategy to raise money to improve the city’s public transportation infrastructure, reduce traffic, and cut back on pollution. 

But after years of preparation and hundreds of millions spent, the congestion pricing initiative is no more. Hochul put an indefinite pause on the program. 

The policy, which was initially triggered by state legislation passed in 2019, would have created a toll to enter the central business district of Manhattan during the busiest hours of the day. The plan consisted of charging $15 per passenger car to enter, with alternative pricing for other vehicles ranging from $7.50 for motorcycles to $36 for large trucks. 

The now defunct proposal is polarizing. Supporters of the initiative argue the estimated $1 billion in yearly revenue would help update New York City’s aging public transportation system. Detractors, meanwhile, worry it would financially squeeze working class families while further undermining the recovery of commercial office space.

According to reporting from POLITICO, the halt on congestion pricing may be a temporary political maneuver and could return from the dead following the November election. In the meantime, officials claim that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will focus on ensuring the city’s aging transit system “doesn’t fall apart.”