UPDATE: MTA Board approves congestion pricing tolls

The Congestion Pricing tolls that Gov. Kathy Hochul announced last week she was reactivating and cutting from $15 to $9 won’t remain at $9 for too long under the pricing schedule the MTA Board of Directors adopted at about 1:15 p.m. today. MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said that the cameras that will read license plates and devices that will trigger E-ZPass units have been tested. The federal government must give final approval before the tolls can be activated. President-elect Donald Trump said that he would kill the Congestion Pricing plan and the MTA and Gov Hochul wanted to get federal approval to go ahead before the new Trump Administration takes office.

Druing a public speaking session before the Board’s vote, Congressman Jerrold Nadler said that the Congestion Pricing program to improve air quality and reduce traffic congestion would benefit low-income areas around the area. He congratulated advocary groups for never giving up in the fight to impose the new tolls.

“We will finally begin to deal with congestion and pollution that affects neighborhoods all across the city including the neighborhoods that I represent,” Nadler said. “In addition to Manhattan, congestion also negatively impacts low-income communities of color all across our city and region.”

The tolls to enter Manhattan’s Central Business District would begin Jan. 5. Tolls for vehicles not equipped with E-ZPass would be higher than tolls for vehicles that do use E-ZPass.

When Hochul made an announcement last week that she was ending what she had initially described during the run-up to the November election as an indefinite pause in imposing the tolls for entering Manhattan at 60th Street. She also proclaimed that she was cutting the toll by 40% and her action would save families about $1,700 a year.

However, the schedule of tolls adoped by the MTA Board of Directors reveals that the $9 toll would only be in effect in Phase 1 from 2025 to 2027. In 2028, Phase 2 would go into effect and the basic $9 toll would rise to $12. Phase 3 would start in 2031 and the base toll would rise to $15.

Tolls for large trucks would rise to $36 by Phase 3 in 2031, as would tolls for buses. Tolls for smaller trucks would hit $24 with the implementation of Phase 3.

The toll schedule does include discounts for some vehicles entering Manhattan through the Lincoln, Holland, Queens-Midtown and Hugh L. Carey tunnels.

Drivers who do not use E-ZPass will face even higher tolls. Instead of $9, passenger cars will be charged $13.50, rising to $22.50 by Phase 3 on 2031. Large trucks entering the Manhattan Central Business District without E-ZPass would be charged $32.40 now, rising to $54 in Phase 3 in 2031.

The schedule of tolls authorizes the MTA to raise the tolls by 25% during Gridlock Alert Days.

Rockland County Executive Ed Day was among the critics of the Congestion Tolls to react strongly to Hochul’s action.

“Hochul’s decision in June to delay the implementation of the Congestion Pricing charge until after the election was a clear, calculated move,” Day said. “Rocklanders are already facing critical affordability issues, and imposing this charge will only worsen the burden on families who have been grappling with high inflation, elevated gas prices, and soaring interest rates for nearly two years.”

Day pointed out that the city’s population has declined 6% since the Covid pandemic and only 60% of the workforce is reporting to offices on a full-time basis. He charged that the Congestion Pricing police is not about addressing congestion but is all about increasing revenue to cover MTA budget shortfalls.