Congestion Pricing went into effect for the Central Business District of Manhattan over the weekend as Saturday night became Sunday morning. In case anyone had any doubts, the MTA announced that “vehicles entering the Congestion Relief Zone in Manhattan — local streets and avenues at or below 60 Street — are now being charged a toll.”
The MTA claimed that the toll “will result in at least 80,000 fewer vehicles entering the zone every day, relieving crowding in what is today the most congested district in the United States.” The MTA also expects billions of dollars to be raised that would be used for improvements to the transit system it controls including the Metro-North Railroad and the Long Island Rail Road.
MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber took part in an unveiling event at Broadway and W. 62nd St. in Manhattan late Saturday night when signage marking the entry point of the tolling zone was revealed. The signage explains that passenger cars using E-ZPass will pay a $9 toll to enter Manhattan’s Central Business District during peak hours . Without an E-ZPass the passenger car toll is $13.50. The E-ZPass passenger car toll will increase to $12 in 2028 and then $15 in 2031.
Lieber was hoisted in a bucket truck along with an MTA employee to remove the covering that had been shielding the Congestion Pricing signs attached to a pole from view until just before the tolling equipment was turned on.
“We’re doing something that is for our kids; we’re doing something that proves that the city is not paralyzed to deal with the challenges,” Lieber said. “We’re doing something that’s about cleaner air and safer streets and less traffic and better transit. Were doing something that’s historic. It’s the first in the nation. This is New York getting ready to be the city for the 21st century. We’ve opened two railroad terminals in the last couple of years. We fixed LaGuardia Airport. We’re fixing JFK and now we’re dealing with traffic, which is really an existential problem for New York. We’ve been working on this for five years. But, you stand in Midtown for five minutes and you know we’ve got to deal with the traffic problem. Now we’re showing the world that in New York we do something about our challenges.”
