Theodore Roosevelt is quoted as saying, “Nothing worth having comes easy.” Whether you think Congestion Pricing in New York City is worth having or not, what can’t be argued is the fact that getting it up and running has been anything but easy. Initially proposed by former Mayor Mike Bloomberg in 2007, Congestion Pricing, at its core, was meant to reduce traffic and improve air quality. No one would say that less traffic and cleaner air are bad things, but of course this comes at a cost… one that a lot of people have been very unhappy about. Calling it an uphill battle is an understatement.
In recent years, Congestion Pricing finally started taking shape – and despite strong opposition from a number of parties, a series of ongoing lawsuits and a political environment that is growing more tumultuous by the day, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) began moving forward, spending more than $500 million on cameras, software and other tolling infrastructure needed to roll out the system, according to Crain’s New York Business.
Just when you thought it was ready to go, Gov. Kathy Hochul put an “indefinite pause” on the program in June. That pause ended in November, when Hochul announced a plan to begin implementing Congestion Pricing by early January, with a 40% across the board toll reduction. There were fears the reduced tolls would negate much of the good intended by the program, but the U.S. Transportation Department approved her plan to impose a $9 congestion charge on private vehicles
(instead of $15) for driving in Manhattan starting on Jan. 5, according to Reuters. They arrived at the $9 number because the original plan – which had already been analyzed at length – had a range of $9 to $23 for passenger vehicles.
Although Congestion Pricing had seemingly cleared its final bureaucratic hurdle, there are ongoing lawsuits from by likes of the Trucking Association of New York and Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey, intense opposition from many local lawmakers and president-elect Trump promised to “TERMINATE” it during his first week in the White House, putting the toll program’s future in doubt once again. MSNreported that oral arguments in four separate lawsuits on whether to pause, kill or allow Congestion Pricing to go forward are scheduled for a Dec. 20 hearing in Manhattan federal court. Talk about the potential for what could be a last-minute turnaround…
On page 27 of this issue Matthew W. Daus, Esq. lays out the rate schedule in detail, so I won’t repeat all of that here – but I will share abbreviated details from an email that the Black Car Assistance Corporation recently sent out to its members.
Under the announced plan, the initial fees, set to begin on January 5th, would be as follows:
Daytime E-ZPass tolls
- Passenger vehicles (once per day): $9
- Motorcycles (once per day): $4.50
- Small trucks and non-commuter buses: $14.40
- Large trucks and sightseeing buses: $21.60
- Tunnel crossing credits are reduced by 40% from the original plan
- Nighttime discounts of 75% from daytime prices
- Per-ride fees for all trips to, from, or within the Central Business District
- App-based for-hire vehicles: $1.50
- Taxis and black cars: $0.75
“This is incredibly good news,” the BCAC noted. “When Hochul first began floating the idea of reviving Congestion Pricing with lower tolls for private vehicles, we were gravely concerned that the revenue would have to be ‘made up’ and that it could lead to higher per-ride fees for our industry. Amazingly, it appears the Traffic Mobility Review Board had built in enough fat in the initial toll structure, that it could handle a 40% reduction and still meet the legally required $1 billion in yearly revenue.”
AutoMarketplace recently pointed out that, “In the initial years the tolls are cheaper than the original Congestion Pricing plan, but there are two pre-approved built-in increases, one in 2028 (Phase 2) and the other in 2031 (Phase 3). After both of these increases, we get back to the originally proposed $15 private vehicle toll and the NYC taxi / non-HV and Uber / Lyft per-trip surcharges of $1.25 and $2.50, respectively.”
Assuming Congestion Pricing clears all hurdles and goes into effect, the tolls, according to Auto Marketplace, will be collected the following ways: “For passenger and commercial vehicles, E-ZPass tags and the Tolls by Mail program will be used to collect congestion tolls. For NYC for-hire vehicles (FHVs) congestion surcharges, similar to how current MTA surcharges are collected, will directly be paid by the passenger on a per-trip basis (remitted by a FHV base or taxi technology system provider).”
“The idea is that phasing in the prices over time will help drivers adapt more easily to the program and allow the MTA and other stakeholders to monitor data regarding implementation and effects,” explained the BCAC in their email to members. “That plan also includes new tools to reduce congestion and air pollution in communities citywide – all of which will ensure that the plan achieves the goals of congestion pricing, including $15 billion in mass transit funding to support the MTA’s current Capital Program.”
What happens if Trump, one of the lawsuits, or extreme political pressure kills Congestion Pricing?
Without Congestion Pricing toll revenue, MTA officials have said they would likely be forced to scrap some $16 billion worth of upgrades to the city’s subway, bus and commuter rail systems. The City says that more than 700,000 vehicles enter the Manhattan central business district daily, reducing travel speeds to around 7 mph (11 kph) on average, which is down 23% since 2010. The MTA, which approved the final fee in November, said the toll will result in at least 80,000 fewer vehicles entering the zone daily, “relieving crowding in what is today the most congested district in the United States,” as reported by Reuters.
If Congestion Pricing can help fix that mayhem, I have to say I’m in favor of it. Plus, our industry, for once, ended up with a better-than-expected outcome.
