MTA holding congestion pricing public meetings across city, suburbs

Public meetings to discuss New York City’s new proposed vehicle congestion pricing program began last Thursday, Sept. 23, and will continue into early October.

The program, formally known as Central Business District Tolling, would create a toll for cars entering Manhattan’s central business district, defined as 60th Street and the entire area south of it.

The goal of the project is to reduce vehicle congestion in the district, improve air quality, reduce the environmental impact of transportation in the city and provide a new funding source for MTA capital projects.

The program is part of the MTA Reform and Traffic Mobility Act passed by the New York State Legislature in 2019, which has not yet been approved by the Federal Highway Administration.

The toll would not be applied to vehicles traveling solely on FDR Drive, Route 9A/the West Side Highway or the Battery Park Underpass, which connects FDR Drive and the West Side Highway.

The pricing for tolls have not yet been announced. The Act states that MTA’s Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority is responsible for designing, developing, building and running the program.

Residents of the district making under $60,000 would receive a tax credit for tolls paid, and emergency vehicles and qualifying vehicles transporting individuals with disabilities would be exempted.

Passenger vehicles would be charged once per day for entering the district, and toll rates would vary at set times or days of the week.

Revenues from the tolls would go toward funding public transportation capital projects, specifically the MTA’s $54.1 billion 2020-2024 Capital Plan. 80% will go toward New York City Transit, and the remaining 20% would be divided into 10% each for the Metro-North Railroad and Long Island Rail Road.

Allison C. de Cerreño led the first public discussion regarding the impact of the program for the northern New York suburbs today at 10 a.m.

According to Cerreño, congestion in New York City ranks among the worst in the United States, and travel speed in the central business district slowed by 23% from 2010 to 2018.

Representatives from the Hudson Valley who spoke at the meeting raised concerns regarding potentially inadequate alternatives from areas of the region with less viable public transit options, like Rockland, Orange and Ulster counties.

New York State Sen. James Skoufis, who represents parts of the three aforementioned counties, pointed to the discrepancies in availability of transit for suburbs west of the Hudson, comparing Peekskill’s 28 daily trains into Manhattan’s business district to Harriman’s 13, which require riders to transfer at Secaucus to get to Penn Station. Many commuters opt for coach buses, which make several stops in the area and deliver riders to the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

“There is simply inadequate transit from west of Hudson into the business district, so there really is little opportunity for my constituents to migrate from driving, if they do that now, to train service,” said Skoufis.

“The simple truth is that it is a regressive tax on middle-income and low-income families who are struggling to make ends meet in our high-tax state,” said New York State Rep. Mike Lawler, who also represents suburbs west of the Hudson. “We have seen express rail service cut in Rockland County, we have seen tolls increase on the Tappan Zee and George Washington bridges, and so at this point, to implement a congestion pricing program, which is really intended to help the MTA fund its expenses and help the MTA make up for its failed mismanagement of the MTA system, is unacceptable.”

According to MTA data, nearly 75% of trips made into Manhattan’s central business district before the pandemic were made utilizing public transit. For low-income populations, transit is the dominant method, with 95% of trips into the district by low-income individuals and families made by way of public transit.

MTA ridership increased by nearly 50% in the two decades before the Covid-19 pandemic, but investment in MTA pubic transit improvement projects fell by 8%.

Several speakers voiced favor of the proposed plans, along with the need for improved transit options and efficiency throughout the city and suburbs, which the program would help fund.

“This reduction in congestion will speed up buses and public transit options that travel into the central business district, such as the Rockland coach buses,” said Darwin Keung, climate and health policy manager for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. “Less traffic also means less noise and pedestrian and vehicle conflicts, which is crucial for realizing Vision Zero, and creating a safer and walkable city. It also reduces traffic emissions, and fewer emissions means improved air quality and health from fewer pollutants.”

A public meeting for congestion pricing for Connecticut will be held Friday, Oct. 1 at 1 p.m., and another public meeting for New York’s northern suburbs will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 5 at 6 p.m. Several more regional public meetings will be held through Sept. 6, at which anyone from any area can participate.