NYC congestion pricing program has launched, tolling drivers entering 60th Street and below in Manhattan

New York City’s congestion pricing program, charging drivers entering 60th Street and below in Manhattan, started Sunday, with MTA officials optimistic it will loosen traffic-clogged streets, drivers objecting to the first-such plan in the nation and firefighters' labor leaders predicting longer response times.

At a news conference Sunday, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Janno Lieber said motorists can expect to see toll charges on their E-ZPass accounts within a few days after fees are calculated based on what time drivers entered the congestion zone, their vehicle type and whether they stayed on an exempt road like the FDR Drive.

"We’re only 12 hours in, so it’s hard to give an accurate measure of the program’s success ... It’s going to take a few days for this all to kick in, but it’s gone smoothly," Lieber told reporters Sunday afternoon. "We don’t expect New Yorkers to change their behavior overnight."

Lieber encouraged drivers to make sure their E-ZPass accounts are connected to their license plates, as the toll for passenger vehicles is $13.50 without E-ZPass rather than $9 during peak hours.

The congestion pricing program launched at one second after midnight. About seven hours later, hundreds of vehicles, a handful of taxicabs and several food trucks drove across the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan. The bustling business district on the East Side stands right at the perimeter of the congestion pricing zone.

Worries about financial impact

Digital screens inside subway trains Sunday morning advertised the new policy. "Congestion pricing is here," one message read on a Bronx-bound No. 2 train, alongside an address for an MTA informational website. "Less congestion, better future."

Hassane Zaouia, 67, of New Jersey, has worked as a taxi driver in New York for 34 years. Zaouia predicted the new congestion pricing fee for cabs, a 75-cent-per-trip surcharge, will disincentivize riders to give substantial tips. Or worse, make them take fewer taxis.

"Taxis now are too expensive for people," Zaouia said, noting Sunday afternoon that he had less business than usual, adding, "Who pays is the driver." 

For app-based for-hire vehicles such as Ubers and Lyfts, passengers will pay $1.50 per trip. Those charges are added to the state's already existing congestion surcharge of $2.50 for medallion taxis and $2.75 for other for-hire trips entering Manhattan below 96th Street.

The program's debut followed five years of environmental review, public hearings, legal challenges, a "pause" declared by Gov. Kathy Hochul last June just as the tolls were scheduled to begin, and last-ditch efforts by New Jersey and other entities to halt the program. 

The MTA contends congestion pricing will reduce gridlock in midtown, cut air pollution and raise money for improvements to public transit.

'Historic victory' or a 'cash grab'?

In a statement Sunday, Riders Alliance senior organizer Danna Dennis said: "Over a decade, New York's subway and bus riders organized and won congestion pricing. It's finally here. Now, we will build on this historic victory to secure the future success of the transit system, which makes life possible throughout New York, for all New Yorkers."

Opponents have argued that the toll amounts to a "cash grab" by the MTA.

On Sunday, a union representing FDNY firefighters voiced its objections. 

Andrew Ansbro, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York, condemned what he called an "unfair tax burden" on his members.

Firefighters typically use their personal vehicles to shuttle themselves and their gear between FDNY stations. The UFA asked for an exemption for firefighters traveling within the zone, but was denied.

Ansbro said members will now request the FDNY provide transportation between stations.

"The department only has 15 vans with which to do this," Ansbro said at a news conference in Manhattan. "So if they can’t do this in a timely matter, what we’ve been told is they’ll be putting firefighters on emergency vehicles, transporting them to and from different work locations as they’re also trying to respond to the many runs we take in. This is going to cause a serious problem in response times."

Lieber said the MTA believes the plan will ultimately improve response times by reducing traffic.

A long time coming

Congestion pricing has been a long time coming: Plans to reduce Manhattan traffic have been floated for 50 years — including a proposal in the early 1970s to ban private vehicles from midtown during peak business hours.

New York is now the most congested city in the world, according to INRIX, a traffic data company. The city was fourth in 2019, when the state Legislature approved congestion pricing.

People paying a premium for express buses from the outer boroughs get trapped in traffic, making for "long, punishing commutes" said Danny Pearlstein, a spokesperson at the nonprofit Riders Alliance, a transit advocacy group.

With congestion pricing, he added, "hopefully we’ll be restoring some value to these folks."

Lieber said he was optimistic the plan will act as an incentive for truck drivers to run deliveries during overnight hours.

There are 1,400 cameras tracking vehicles entering the congestion zone, more than 110 additional detection points inside and around the zone, more than 800 signs and more than 400 lanes of affected traffic, Lieber said.

New Yorkers around midtown on Sunday discussed less-noted potential consequences of the new plan.

Stationed inside a Nathan's hot dog truck on Fifth Avenue, Ahmed Ibrahim said he believed the new tolls would deplete business during an already slow start to winter. Fewer customers will frequent midtown, Ibrahim predicted, and food truck operators transporting generators and food ingredients from Astoria, Queens, will be hit hard financially.

Differing perspectives on the street

Among a group of decidedly upbeat runners jogging along 60th Street despite the frigid temperatures was Vivian Moy. The East Village resident said she was sympathetic to her Westchester friends who paid the toll Sunday morning to run with her in Central Park.

"It doesn't just affect people who want to eat at a restaurant downtown, it affects runners," she said. Moy did see a potential positive outcome: lighter traffic leading to safer conditions for those runners.

Some drivers on Sunday morning first learned that congestion pricing had started when they drove below 60th Street.

"I don’t know anything about it," said Marcus Erkan, of Franklin Square, after finding out he’d just paid the toll.

Other drivers said their jobs were paying the tolls for them, but congestion pricing would deter them from driving into Manhattan during their free time.

"If I drive in for personal reasons, I’ll come before 9 a.m.," said Helen Chiu, who commutes from Queens for her job at a media company.

Transfers advised

FDNY EMS Local 2507, the union representing the city’s EMTs and paramedics, has advised those working in the toll zone to request a transfer.

"The union is urging members to submit their transfer paperwork urgently, given the steep fiscal implications — $45 [a] week — for its members, who are the lowest paid of any of New York City’s front line first responders," the union said in a statement last week.

James Brosi, president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association (UFOA), which represents FDNY lieutenants, captains and more, on Sunday called the start of congestion pricing a "sad day for public safety."

Brosi said that working in lower Manhattan already takes a toll on firefighters. He noted the department has around 100 vacancies in the area. That number could rise, Brosi added, because of the financial costs associated with the new policy.

"It’s the highest risk, the greatest risk of a terrorist activity," he said at a Manhattan news conference also attended by Ansbro. "It’s the most expensive place to work, it’s the most difficult place to work."

Under the revised plan, passenger cars are charged $9 at peak hours, collected via E-ZPass sensors set up at various entry points. Trucks and those without an E-ZPass pay more; drivers entering after 9 p.m. pay less. The plan was approved in May 2024, but Hochul paused it at the eleventh hour, saying what were then set to be $15 tolls for passenger cars were too burdensome.

Drivers who remain on the FDR Drive, West Side Highway/Route 9A and the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel connections to West Street are not charged. 

Congestion pricing still faces some legal challenges. One of them comes from the Town of Hempstead, which filed a suit in May against the plan.

Lieber said drivers wondering whether they qualify for low-income or disability-related reduced tolls can call the MTA help line at 800-333-8655 or 511.