MTA approves Manhattan toll plan; congestion pricing set to start Jan. 5
The plan now goes before federal regulators for final approval, after which the new tolls would take effect on Jan. 5. Credit: Craig Ruttle
The MTA Board on Monday approved charging most vehicles $9 for driving below 60th Street in Manhattan as part of its retooled congestion pricing plan.
The plan now goes before federal regulators for final approval, after which the new tolls would take effect on Jan. 5.
The board voted 12-1 in favor of the new toll rates. As he has before, David Mack, the Nassau County representative on the MTA Board, cast the lone "no" vote on the plan, saying he believed the MTA could find other ways to raise revenue, including by tolling currently free crossings. He also said congestion could be reduced by better enforcing traffic laws, including cracking down on double parking and trucks blocking lanes while unloading cargo.
"We have absolutely no enforcement of the parking [and] all of the other things that would contribute to congestion," Mack said.
Before casting his "yes" vote, board member Sammy Chu, of Plainview, called it "one of the most consequential things I get to participate in in my entire career."
"There’s very few opportunities you have to pass policy that will have such dramatic impacts on the climate, on the environment, on safety," Chu said.
Five months after ordering a pause on the MTA’s Central Business District Tolling program, Hochul on Thursday unveiled a retooled plan with a base toll of $9 for E-ZPass customers, lower than the $15 toll included in the original plan.
Supporters say the first-in-the-nation congestion pricing program will reduce traffic in Manhattan, improve air quality, and provide funding to improve the transit system. Opponents of the program — including nearly three-quarters of Long Island voters, according to a November 2023 poll — say the new tolls will overburden motorists and could drive them out of the state.
Ahead of the vote Monday, MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber criticized press coverage of the resuscitated congestion pricing plan for having an "outsized and inaccurately negative focus on the impact on drivers," whom he said make up less than 1% of people commuting into Manhattan’s central business district.
"There should be more focus on the 6½ million people who take transit every day and what it means for them and what it means for the city at large," Lieber said. "This is a hopeful moment ... It shows that we collectively can take on and address big challenges that we are facing."
Opponents' hopes of stopping the plan rest on several lawsuits challenging its legality — including one filed by Hempstead Town Supervisor Donald Clavin — and on incoming President Donald Trump, a vocal opponent of congestion pricing who has vowed to "terminate" the plan in his first week in office.
In a statement Thursday, Trump said only that he "strongly" disagreed with the "regressive tax," but also expressed "great respect" for Hochul.
Check back for updates on this developing story.
The MTA Board on Monday approved charging most vehicles $9 for driving below 60th Street in Manhattan as part of its retooled congestion pricing plan.
The plan now goes before federal regulators for final approval, after which the new tolls would take effect on Jan. 5.
The board voted 12-1 in favor of the new toll rates. As he has before, David Mack, the Nassau County representative on the MTA Board, cast the lone "no" vote on the plan, saying he believed the MTA could find other ways to raise revenue, including by tolling currently free crossings. He also said congestion could be reduced by better enforcing traffic laws, including cracking down on double parking and trucks blocking lanes while unloading cargo.
"We have absolutely no enforcement of the parking [and] all of the other things that would contribute to congestion," Mack said.
Before casting his "yes" vote, board member Sammy Chu, of Plainview, called it "one of the most consequential things I get to participate in in my entire career."
"There’s very few opportunities you have to pass policy that will have such dramatic impacts on the climate, on the environment, on safety," Chu said.
Five months after ordering a pause on the MTA’s Central Business District Tolling program, Hochul on Thursday unveiled a retooled plan with a base toll of $9 for E-ZPass customers, lower than the $15 toll included in the original plan.
Supporters say the first-in-the-nation congestion pricing program will reduce traffic in Manhattan, improve air quality, and provide funding to improve the transit system. Opponents of the program — including nearly three-quarters of Long Island voters, according to a November 2023 poll — say the new tolls will overburden motorists and could drive them out of the state.
Ahead of the vote Monday, MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber criticized press coverage of the resuscitated congestion pricing plan for having an "outsized and inaccurately negative focus on the impact on drivers," whom he said make up less than 1% of people commuting into Manhattan’s central business district.
"There should be more focus on the 6½ million people who take transit every day and what it means for them and what it means for the city at large," Lieber said. "This is a hopeful moment ... It shows that we collectively can take on and address big challenges that we are facing."
Opponents' hopes of stopping the plan rest on several lawsuits challenging its legality — including one filed by Hempstead Town Supervisor Donald Clavin — and on incoming President Donald Trump, a vocal opponent of congestion pricing who has vowed to "terminate" the plan in his first week in office.
In a statement Thursday, Trump said only that he "strongly" disagreed with the "regressive tax," but also expressed "great respect" for Hochul.
Check back for updates on this developing story.
Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.
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