The Federal Highway Administration has approved New York’s plan to implement a toll on driving in midtown Manhattan to combat traffic congestion, the first program of its kind in the United States.
Drivers could pay up to $23 to drive through Manhattan south of 60th Street. The specific cost and implementation of the toll have yet to be finalized, but it could be put in place as early as 2024.
How the toll system will work — including the toll amounts, who will be eligible for credits and who will be exempt from the toll — will be decided by the Traffic Mobility Review Board. Once that is decided and approved by the MTA, the plan will have to receive final approval from the FHWA.
The new tolls are expected to generate another $1 billion yearly, which would be used to finance borrowing to upgrade the subway, bus and commuter rail systems operated by the MTA.
People headed into Manhattan already pay big tolls to use many of the bridges and tunnels connecting the Hudson, East and Harlem Rivers. The special tolls for the southern half of Manhattan would come on top of those existing charges.
The New York state legislature approved the conceptual plan for congestion pricing in 2019, but the implementation has been stalled by COVID-19 and a lack of federal guidance.
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According to the environmental assessment, travel speeds in Manhattan’s central business district decreased 22%, to an average of about 7 mph, between 2010 and 2019, and drivers experience about 102 hours of lost travel time per year as a result. Local bus speeds have decreased 28%.
Officials in New Jersey, where commuters to Manhatten would face daily tolls, have objected to the proposal.
New Jersey’s congressional delegation, led by U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, and Gov. Phil Murphy have sent numerous letters asking the FHWA to require the MTA to conduct a full environmental impact study. Gov. Phil Murphy announced his administration was exploring legal options.
“While we are not necessarily opposed to a carefully crafted congestion pricing proposal, we are deeply disappointed by the FHWA’s limited review and skeptical of the motives of a financially ailing agency that has failed to meaningfully engage with our Administration on this issue,” Bailey Lawrence, a Murphy spokesman, said in a statement.
Janno Lieber, who heads the MTA, said the agency is taking New Jersey into consideration while working to finalize the congestion pricing plan.
“They don’t ask our permission to increase tolls on the Garden State Parkway or the Jersey Turnpike — they just increase tolls on the areas they control,” Lieber told Marcia Kramer during a June 11 interview on CBS.
Cities including London, Singapore, and Stockholm have implemented similar tolling programs for highly congested business districts. In London, congestion fell 30% and pollution dropped by almost a quarter the year after congestion pricing was implemented according to the Washington Post.
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Contributing: Colleen Wilson, Associated Press
