The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has officially activated the first congestion pricing programme in the United States in New York.
The toll, which was declared as a requirement by the State in April 2019, now charges motorists entering Manhattan below 60th Street (formally known as the Central Business District – now also known as the Congestion Relief Zone (CRZ)).
The peak toll for both passenger and small commercial vehicles entering the CRZ utilising E-ZPass is 9 USD during peak hours, with an overnight rate of 2.25 USD. For motorcycles, peak pricing is set at 4.50 USD, with an overnight rate of 1.05 USD.
Taxis and fore-hire vehicles licensed with the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission will be eligible for a reduced, per-trip charge paid for by passengers themselves for each individual trip to, from, within or through the CRZ. When travelling during both peak and overnight periods, the per-trip charge for high-volume for-hire vehicles is 1.50 USD, with taxis, green cabs and black cars being charged 0.75 USD per-trip.
MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber, said:The Congestion Relief Zone has been in operation since midnight – 1,400 cameras, over 110 detection points, over 800 signs and 400 lanes of traffic and it’s all gone smoothly.
We want to encourage trucks to do more deliveries at night, we want improvements to vehicle speeds especially for buses, we want to make sure that emergency response vehicles can get where they are going faster, and I hope drivers will take another look at the speed and convenience of mass transit.
The decision to introduce the toll zone was made following a study commissioned by the Partnership for New York City in 2018, which found that average traffic speeds of 7mph led to 117 hours of time spent in gridlocked traffic per person per year, costing up to 20 billion USD each year.
In 2024, the New York Post published a report naming the city as the most congested in the world, matching traffic levels of London as it was before the introduction of its own congestion pricing plans in 2003.
With the introduction of the charges, the MTA hopes to encourage those who would previously prefer to use personal vehicles to instead use the city’s extensive public transport systems, with the CRZ itself being labelled as the most transit-rich area in the entire country with 94 subway stations, 99 MTA bus routes and 2,500 regional and commuter trains per day.
The introduction of the plan is projected to reduce personal vehicles within the CRZ by up to 80,000 daily.
MTA Bridges and Tunnels President Cathy Sheridan, said:The start of congestion pricing is a historic moment for the New York region, the nation, and MTA Bridges and Tunnels, who has shepherded the program since the beginning and will oversee its tolling operations.
Congestion pricing will not only benefit mass transit users, but less congestion means safer streets for both pedestrians and motorists – aligning with our own efforts of moving traffic safely and efficiently on our nine iconic crossings. And as a reminder, the program has officially started but it’s never too late to sign up with E-ZPass for the lowest toll rate, and for those who are eligible, any credits or discounts.
During the years-long planning phase of the programme, the MTA held a large amount of public meetings, 19 public webinars and 10 public hearings, fielding over 102,000 comments from citizens throughout.
The MTA has announced that 80% of the revenue generated by the programme will be spent on capital improvements on both NYC Subways and Buses, 10% on Metro-North Railroad and 10% on the Long Island Rail Road.
A full list of projects that will be supported by congestion pricing funding can be found in an online summary here.
