By Gus Saltonstall
In what might be looked back at as a historic day in the New York City transportation world, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) board voted Wednesday to give final approval to congestion pricing — a new charge for those who drive on lower Manhattan streets.
The vote gives the agency the green light to implement a $15 daytime toll for cars entering Manhattan at 60th Street or below.
The MTA board voted 11 to 1 in favor of the program, which aims to reduce traffic in Midtown and Lower Manhattan, and is projected to raise $1 billion annually for public transit improvements. The lone no vote came from Nassau County board member David Mack.
Wednesday’s vote came after the MTA’s December approval of toll prices for different kinds of vehicles. That step initiated a 60-day review period that culminated in yesterday’s approval.
While Wednesday’s vote was technically the final approval needed to begin the program, its future still relies on the outcome of six lawsuits currently in federal courts. A suit brought by the state of New Jersey that is scheduled for consideration on April 3 is expected to pose the largest legal challenge.
While the MTA has cited two-to-one public support of the program, opponents have objected to the cost of the tolls and warned that they will be detrimental to the taxi business. They also predict that congestion pricing will simply shift traffic patterns, creating new congestion and pollution in other areas in and around Manhattan.
If the lawsuits are resolved in MTA’s favor, congestion pricing could begin as early as June. As West Side Rag previously reported, the infrastructure and scanners to enforce the program have already been installed throughout the borough, including on the Upper West Side.
Here’s what to know on the price points:
Peak hours on weekdays will be 5 a.m. to 9 p.m and on weekends from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Vehicles entering the zone more than once in one of those time periods will only be charged one toll per day.
- Passenger cars – Peak hours: $15. Off-peak hours: $3.75
- Trucks and buses – Peak hours: $24 or $36 depending on size of the vehicle. Off-peak hours: $6 to $9.
- Motorcycles – Peak hours: $7.50. Off-peak hours: $1.75
- Taxi and green cabs – $1.25 will be added to every trip to, from, within or through the zone.
- Uber/Lyft/app-based service cars – $2.50 will be added to every trip to, from, within or through the zone.
There will also be certain exemptions to the tolls. School buses, public buses, and commuter vans licensed with the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission will not have to pay. Other exempt vehicles include specialized government vehicles, emergency vehicles, and vehicles transporting people with disabilities.
The Rag will keep an eye out for the outcome of the lawsuits.
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Excellent news! Commuting by vehicle into the most dense area of the country should be expensive and the toll helps reflect that. The vast majority of people working in the zone take public transit and these funds will help support the MTA’s capital plan. I predict in a couple years we’ll all think it was crazy we didn’t have congestion pricing earlier.
That is very short sighted. Taxing every visitor, every employee, every delivery, every service to enter the city will only make everything more expensive and will only be passed on to you!
It’s actually quite a farsighted policy considering all the benefits congestion pricing will bring. It would be near sighted to be myopically complaining about a minuscule increase in costs….
Indeed, why drive into midtown when you can park on the UWS and take the train in.
Because an elderly person now has to pay $2.50 on top of the already existing congestion charge in cabs to go the doctor. The family taking their child to chemo has to pay more. We already pay a ton in taxes, fees, tolls, parking, etc. why keep taxing us more. Tax tourists and visitors from New Jersey. I residents.
People might think that’s a good idea but they’ll change their minds in a day or two.
Very few people will park on the UWS to avoid the congestion fee during the week. It’s just not worth it to deal with alternate side etc. If anything, there will be people visiting Midtown for pleasure parking their cars here on the UWS to go to Midtown on weekends when many UWSers who own cars go away.
Total chaos. People will be fighting in the streets for a smaller and smaller number of parking spots. It will create havoc for alternate side parking. There will be fist fights as people vie for spots.
Once propsective non-local parkers find out that they have to drive around for extended periods of time without success, they will give up trying.
People have given up trying. The parking situation on the UWS is actually better than a lot of Bronx neighborhoods or certain Queens neighborhoods or even places in Nassau County such as the west end of Long Beach.
Public transportation should be the default in dense urban centers, and THAT is is where monies should be invested. It make sens that those who prefer to take a taxi or drive their own car into the city center, pay a bit more (in a taxi) or a lot more (in their own car), so that other traffic can move with less congestion. Or so I hope.
Except that Manhattanites and those living in Park Slope or LIC want to FORCE people who don’t live the lifestyle that they do to subpar transit options and then when they complain, say that we are spending too much money on transit or as one West Side Rag commenter puts it “the city doesn’t owe you (someone who can’t afford the UWS) the perpetual benefit of this geographic arbitrage (of working on the UWS and living somewhere cheaper)”. Not only do Manhattanites and those in gentrifying neighborhoods want to FORCE people onto transit, but THEY themselves avoid transit with the use of ubers, lyfts and citibikes the moment transit doesn’t work out for them.
I haven’t forgotten how in the 1970s and 1980s, Manhattanites didn’t want express buses between the outer boroughs and Manhattan, but fought tooth and nail when the MTA wanted to eliminate a UES to Wall Street express bus (the X90 and X92) that lost the majority of its ridership to commuter vans. Manhattanites want the freedom to leave the transit system only for themselves and not those who can’t afford to live here.
Disastrous move. Essentially it’s a regressive tax that is very burdensome to the working and middle classes, while not really financially effecting the rich or people using corporate expense accounts.
Our progressive tax system is enough of a mess; we don’t need the same for the congestion pricing plan. One price fits all just like all other fees for services. No additional carveouts should be made except what’s already been decided.
It will be interesting to see how the NYPD, NYFD, and other city workers with parking placards do. Most of them drive in from outside the CIty.
If you’re worried about regressive taxes on transportation, why do we make driving and parking free while the subway costs $132/month ($1,584/year!)?
We should start organizing for the congestion zone to be expanded to the Upper West Side. There is too much traffic and congestion here, it’s bad for our health and expanding congestion pricing to cover our neighborhood is the best way to make our air cleaner.
Driving isn’t free, you have to make a monthly car payment, maintenance costs, gas costs, insurance costs, registration fees. Fees that the drivers pay themselves. On the other hand transit operations are subsidized heavily, not only that MTA is its own insurance company so it doesn’t have to pay premiums we do (FMTAC) and their buses also aren’t subject to the same inspection process cars and private buses are. At the end of the day, I don’t think traffic and congestion are the concerns of congestion pricing supporters, its making sure people like me aren’t welcome on the UWS unless I am willing to pay the same or more than what congestion pricing supporters pay to live here.
“Making sure people like me aren’t welcome on the UWS” – not everything is about you actually! We just want cleaner air.
Disagree. There are many ways to avoid this even for working class. Subway bike walking all are available. The benefits for everyone including lower air pollution less accidents and the ability for emergency vehicles to get to their destination faster. It’s mainly the wealthy who will pay by not worrying about the high costs of getting around.
And deprives small business people of revenue bc people who need to drive, can’t!
Yes – I do see the need entirely for congestion pricing, but its a HUGE blow to small businesses in the area and will indeed further drive them out at $450 a month to their expenses.
The vast majority of working and middle class people do not drive into Manhattan and thus will pay nothing! I recall the estimate I saw quoted was ~2% of lower income commuters are driving, the rest are taking public transport – which is not a surprise, cars are expensive!
What’s the definition of lower income. When you can’t afford to live comfortably here in Manhattan on a $100k a year salary even without a car, I suspect lower income covers a lot more people than what’s being put out there.
UWS Dad,
Talk to building staff and I think you’ll find people who live very far away – with no easy transit access – and who drive in.
I am aware of multiple local building staff including night shift who must drive.
Same thing where I work downtown.
Also ladies who clean at night – they are picked up by a relative at the end of the shift. Their relative will be paying the CP fee every night when he picks them up.
Would you or your relatives clean office buildings at night? And be OK getting on the subway late at night after the shift?
I couldn’t care less about buildings workers’ transportation problems. They are notorious for hording street parking spots and trading them among themselves. You, I, or anyone else will never get access to those spots. They treat the street as their own parking lot.
It’s not just building workers. This affects all kinds of industries – even those of us in construction. A lot times we are asked to work on weekends and no one wants to work, because it will take 2+ hours on the train just to come in to work. It’s not worth it.
Once you know these building workers and they know you regularly access the area, they will very often give you courtesy as well. But in all honesty, if you don’t care about building workers transportation problems even if they use transit, which I know is the case as I’ve seen it on the UWS, then fix everything yourself. In other countries, tenants who rent apartments are responsible for their own repairs.
Boris,
I don’t drive.
But I am grateful to the building staff who fix things and take out the trash.
And am grateful to ER hospital staff (some who drive to work) who helped my family.
Etc.
It’s not just “driving into Manhattan” — literally every car and truck moving south of 60th is taxed.
Do you buy food? Purchase things? Get packages? Congratulations: you’re affected by this.
Yes because a truck making 15 deliveries a day has to pay $30 ,so about $2 pr stop to unload lets say a dozen cartons. Do the math, not to mention the time and gas they save by hopefully less traffic, companies should actually be saving money.
How is paying $30 every time they cross the line multiple times per day, everyday of the week saving money? This will add increased fees to every delivery.
They don’t have to cross the line and re-enter multiple times a day if they route their deliveries efficiently. They will pay only once. I’m sure they don’t do that now without the congestion fee.
The reality is that more street space will be taken from vehicles, you will get Sammy’s law lowering speed limits further, NYC will be like Chicago where instead of speed cameras giving you ten over, you get five over, the end result will be that companies won’t save any money. If there’s any benefit, it won’t be the ability to make extra deliveries or take extra calls, it might just be getting back to the office the same time or maybe one or two minutes earlier if that.
That’s a fair point, even if people are paying nothing directly, you may pay a miniscule amount once the $15 fare is spread across a truckload of packages. This should be weighed against the trade off of less congestion, safer streets and less air pollution that we will all benefit from.
It won’t be less congestion when the end game is taking away more street space from motor vehicles for bike lanes, pedestrian plazas etc. plus Sammy’s Law which will further lower speed limits which negates the impact that reduced congestion may have. Less air pollution and “safer” streets? But not for all, only those privileged enough to pay an arm and a leg to live in trendy Manhattan neighborhoods.
Agree. This is set up to hurt those who can afford it least. shame!
Why haven’t the borough presidents of Brooklyn and Queens and the County executives of Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester brought or joined suits to protect the interest of their constituents?
The Queens BP is silent because all Queens residents were recently given FREE travel across the Cross Bay Bridge with an E-Zpass. It was part of the deal to get Congestion Pricing approved. Also, if you live in the Bronx, you can now travel for FREE across the Henry Hudson Bridge with your E-ZPass.
Wow.
Have not seen any mention of this free bridge travel.
Unbelievable
The Queens and Brooklyn borough presidents are captive to urbanist and YIMBY interests.
Because this is about people in Manhattan
Why would you say this is about the people in Manhattan? Drivers from the other boroughs (and any driver from outside of Manhattan for that matter) will be charged the same toll if they enter Manhattan below 60th Street. this isn’t a toll that only applies to residents of Manhattan.
Why is this fair for NYC residents who live in the zone and commute out of the zone for work. They garage their car and reside twp blocks into the zone. Not me, but friends. So every time they return from work they are charged just to get to their garage? Will be interesting to see what happens to residential housing in the zone. Some residents might opt to leave. And sales prices might suffer. The knock on affect if this is not yet known.
As presently planned, once you reach 60th street, you will be charged the congestion fee. If your vehicle is then garaged for 30 or 60or even 365 days, you will not be charged as long as your vehicle is not spotted by cameras leaving the zone. So, you would only be charged 2 congestion fees even though your car was garaged for a longer period of time.
What’s more outrageous is that the car in the example doesn’t need to be garaged but can be driving in the zone for an infinite period of time and only be charged the one time it entered the zone. The motorist who drives in and out of the zone on a daily basis are also subsidizing this driver because some of the$15 fee they pay is to compensate the MTA since they can’t identify the vehicle who spends days or months in the zone and has not left it.
The congestion fee will not be charged to vehicles leaving the zone, only entering.
Thank god, I never thought it would happen. It’s bad for me personally because I live north of 60th and have a garage south of 60th, but nevertheless it is the right thing to do. It will cause me to alter some behaviors and maybe even get rid of the car, but that’s the whole point.
I never understood why turning the City inside out to grab funding is a good idea. If NYS can fully fund a new stadium in Buffalo, it can fund the NYC Transit Authority. After all. NYC is the economic engine for NYS. Also, with congestion pricing, the UWS will be a mess. For hire vehicles get ridiculous exemptions, when riders should be encouraged to get onto mass transit and not be the guilty party for creating congestion. Further, NYC residents who choose to leave Manhattan by taking the closest most environmentally efficient bridge or tunnel should be exempted from the ridiculous fee. Trying to reach local elected officials is useless. Ps: Bronx and Queens residents got their local exemptions based on pushback from their local representatives. Why not us???
Now that the plan has passed, turning it on in June and dealing with operational issues will be the next big test if the courts don’t stop it. As a long time Westsider, I am concerned about the lack of focus on the 79th street Henry Hudson exit ramp. At times the traffic on this ramp currently backs up onto the highway and with more people getting off at this exit to avoid the streets in the congestion zone and fee, the highway backup will grow larger and put more motorists in danger. In addition, the construction currently going on at the exit will continue on for at least 3 more years and at some point it will be closed, thereby moving all the exiting traffic to 96th street and Riverside Drive. As far as I know, there has been no discussion on how the Parks/DOT project will ensure motorist safety while the the 79th street exit is under construction. I think it’s time this gets elevated and our elected officials tell us how motorists will remain safe when these projects finally converge on one another.
There’s a finite number of onstreet and offstreet places to park between 60th St and 96th St. Drivers will quickly figure out the futility of getting off at either 79th or 96th Streets and hoping to find a parking spot.
Not likely. We’ll simply adjust our commute time to coordinate with street cleaning and nab a free spot. Guaranteed. Remote work has made it possible work FROM YOUR CAR for an hour our two before going into the office.
But alternate side on the UWS often is 11-12:30 or 11:30-1 on many blocks, not all blocks are 8-9:30 or 8:30-10. Who is expecting someone to start work in Midtown at 1 pm?
And dealing with alternate side parking
I hope you are right but we should be assured by DOT and elected officials that it has been studied and there is a remediation plan in the event traffic trying to get off at 79th street is in excess of the 79th street exit off ramp capacity.
Lets say you have a garage in the lower W 60s. Today it may make sense to not wait in that line of cars in the WSH exitting at 79th but to go down to 57th to exit and go a few blocks north. But you are much less likely to do that when it will cost you $15.
Likewise when leaving and going north on the WSH entering at the light at 57th may have been easier than the short on ramp at 72nd. But for $15 you might not do that.
Why should CP hours be restrictive to those of us who spend money in the surrounding areas. I often did business after 6 to 7 pm and before 8am. All of that revenue will be lost to the city bc no one will wake up at 3am to do business or wait until 10pm. It’s like there’s no one capable of thinking who worked on this program. HOrrific. The City will be over, unless one of these lawsuits prevails.
This is the worst thought out program I have ever seen.There has been little or no thought to having residential parking to help locals from the influx of cars parking in the neighborhoods to avoid the tax. It will effect Real Estate as listings already show value in living outside the zone. Small businesses in the zone will be hurt as people will avoid going there. The Koch bridge(59th St) is in the zone so it is no longer free. What a ridiculous plan!!! There is no way this can be sucessful so the MTA can waste some more money. Why aren’t they putting barriers to trains like in Dc so people can’t be pushed.
Where exactly are all these free parking spots that people are going to flock to on the UWS?
“Free” spots are those non metered spots on every side street btwn the Ave’s. During street cleaning you are going to see 100 x’s the number cars normally double parked waiting for a coveted spot. Hordes of commuters, like myself, are going to adjust our commute time in order to park in one of those spots north of W.60th. This is not only due to the actual congestion toll but because garages north of 60th where I have chosen to park (typically $25-$35 per day) are already jacking up their rates. Get ready. It’s going to be chaos.
They say it will raise a billion a year for public transportation. I would like to see that budget and what the improvements will be.
We could probably get a billion dollars if we started prosecuting fare-beating.
Good!
But car owners will start getting a custom to the pricing and won’t protest it.
It should be higher!!!
And I’m sure it will be going up every year/18 months until we get less traffic in this city.
And forget about the neighborhood permits that’s not gonna happen. LOL
I have such mixed feelings about this. But I do anticipate a lot more traffic on the UWS.
I support this, but what I find most objectionable is the nonstop cascade of legal entanglements.
It would be easier to do this as a pilot (and abandon if it’s not working, or even amend the program) if we didn’t live in a place where every traffic pattern plan wasn’t subject to litigation.
Why should people who pay for a garage (prices for which are getting jacked up as a result of this measure), and thereby pay the city taxes already, have to pay for this toll?
Because where you store your car has nothing to do with where you drive your car? Do you also expect an exemption from toll bridges and tunnels within the City?
Without being paired with making the subways safer and more consistent, the goal of “eliminating congestion” is an obvious ruse.
This isn’t going to stop me from taking a car home after midnight, but it is now going to make it more expensive. The only thing accomplished here is costing normal people more money to exist in a city that already costs so much.
I’d also love to see the difference in air quality on the UWS now vs a year after this is implemented. I imagine all this policy will do is push traffic uptown. Connections to FDR and the West Side Highway are going to become an absolute mess.
Taking the subway is far safer than driving a car.
The data shows that the UWS will see one of the greatest reductions in traffic. So, we will see a lot of the benefits.
Most people see the subways as a means to an end, they simply tolerate subways. That will ALWAYS be the subway’s achilles heel.
One thing that everybody seems to be missing is that small business owners are going to be hurt by this the most. I own a business in the congestion zone. Some of our suppliers have all ready started charging us a congestion price tax. We have argued that there is no such thing yet, but it is going to be an ongoing argument. The margins on owning a small business in NYC are small. When a proposed new tax is lobbied by Lyft and Uber it is suspect. How much of the congestion is caused by Amazon delivering peoples one roll of toilet paper? You want to attack Amazon go for it
Is your business accessible to buses, within a few short blocks or a couple long blocks? Put transit directions on your website if you have one, and thank customers for their loyalty.
Agree with you about mega-Amazon; too bad it’s associated with Whole Foods and other businesses. (Amazon Prime in our neighborhood is just a bunch of guys in an unmarked rental van, throwing packages on the street to sort them.)
Interesting, but this is a drop in the bucket compared to the property taxes, commercial rent tax, sales tax, corporation tax, etc. that you’re paying.
Those are the real killers.
Very curious to know how the 59th Street Bridge will be affected.
I hope – Turn right no toll – Turn Left Toll.
The better way to think of this isn’t “what it will cost drivers” but the benefits that it will bring to the city through cleaner air and improved public transportation, less gridlock and faster emergency response times.
Quick question: Apologies if I’m missing something, but none of the articles I’ve seen about congestion pricing for private cars mention how the funds will be collected. EZ-Pass? Monthly billing? Another tranche of staff to swell the city’s bureaucracy?
Just another way to raise revenue when it’s not exactly clear how this extra revenue will be spent. They are saying it definitely won’t go towards payroll but have a hard time believing that. The total financial mismanagement of public money is the core issue here.
Manhattan and NYC as whole just got more expensive to live in. This doesn’t just effect the people and businesses paying this extra toll, costs for everyone goes up because of it. Prices at local stores downtown or uptown will all go up.
As much as I love the city, leadership is making it tougher and tougher to want to stay for many reasons.
A lot of it will go towards debt. The MTA has a shockingly high proportion of debt and more and more of MTA revenue will be used to finance debt. That’s the biggest problem.
The money is required to go towards capital improvements, which have been published in advance.
Yes and congestion pricing revenues will be used to purchase bonds. Those bonds have debt and interest that have to be serviced. That debt service comes out of the operating budget. MTA can’t declare bankruptcy on its debt.
I am a little confused here. It says ENTERING Manhattan 60th street or below. That is in addition to the toll one is paying for the Lincoln or the Holland Tunnel for example to enter Manhattan? Or is it driving anywhere in Manhattan below 60th street all the way to the South Street Seaport?
Except for driving on the FDR Drive and the West Side Highway to skirt the congestion zone, you will be charged for driving anywhere south of 60th St. If you enter Manhattan via the NJ tunnels, I read recently that there will be a partial credit against the congestion pricing toll.
shame on them. making life more expensive is not a viable answer to our problems.
There’s an old expression that goes something like, “please don’t pee on my head and tell me it’s raining”. That is the condition we find ourselves in now in NY. Our streets have been very poorly redesigned by a non-transparent autocratic DOT to greatly accommodate bike lanes used by a minority of New Yorkers, along with other things like Citibike platforms and Open Streets which actually closes streets. And everyone is wondering why the traffic is so bad? Hence the old expression.
If you cut down 4 lanes to 2 or even 1, traffic is going to be bad. If you bring in tens of thousands of for hire Lyfts and Ubers, traffic is going to be even worse! And then if you bring in 65,000 unregulated e-vehicle delivery guys it’s going to be pandemonium. Which is what we now have. And the solution? Charge people so there’s less bad traffic!
This is a situation foisted on the public without their ability to do anything at all about it! Protests, petitions, and cries at community boards and at City Hall fall on deaf ears. The public realm has been ceded to private companies so that even walking is an issue now. Perhaps the city and state will move to charge us to do that too.
As for other modes of transit, I for one no longer take the subway or taxis either. The subways are far too unsafe particularly since lithium-battery e-bikes ride on them blessed by the MTA. They are combustible as witnessed by many of us forced to live with them on our streets and in our buildings. It’s a matter of time til there is a deadly fire in the subway because of them. And while e-bikes were invited on by the MTA, some of the other problems perhaps were not. Daily there are incidents often by the mentally ill as well as plain ol’ criminals either pushing people onto the tracks or robbing them. No thanks. I’m done with the MTA and their sadly managed industry and poor judgment.
Another mode of transportation taxis have become far too expensive and even drivers will tell you that. And that’s before an increase for congestion pricing (even though there already is an increase for cp). It is now $10 just to get in a cab and go nowhere. So as a middle class New Yorker my options and my freedoms have become less and less while my taxes have sky-rocketed.
This is no longer a city for the working class, the middle class and the upper middle class and I can only construe from all of this that more and more of us will be pushed out of here. Unless you are in a rent-stabilized apartment you will find it very difficult to continue to pay the increased costs. Because surely when trucks and cars are forced to pay hefty fees they will transfer those fees to you and me in the form of food, clothing and the things we require in order to live. It’s a deal breaker.
A livable city?? Not from where I sit. And I hardly think I’m alone.
Many of us can’t afford to leave, if we wanted to; bad trap.
Rather than asking what it will cost drivers, the question we should have been asking all along is what drivers cost the city. A lot more than $15 per trip. This is a small price to pay that will be poured into making the transit alternative even better and more attractive.
Great point Ken. Unclear why the article framing is ‘what it will cost’ when the data shows most UWS households don’t own a car. Most households will benefit from this policy and the framing should reflect that.
Most UWS households (including young urban professionals either living with roommates or unmarried single people living in NYC before moving onto the next one) may not own a car, but this neighborhood would be worse off without people who drove being a part of it.
How do drivers cost the city? Per the MTA, 5/12 of toll revenue goes to transit now. Cars cause minimal road wear, truck and bus use – which aren’t going anywhere – account for road maintenance costs. Garage taxes (18%) yield millions in revenue.
Perhaps you can explain how the city pays over $15 every time a car is driven in.
Drivers of vehicles that aren’t just cars are a value add for the city. They bring in goods that wouldn’t come here otherwise, they allow access to people who would have a harder time coming in otherwise, they allow people to maintain connections they wouldn’t otherwise. They also reduce the need to subsidize transit. The more people in suburbs or outer boroughs that drive, the less money you need to spend on high subsidy transit such as commuter rail or commuter buses. Today its cars that you don’t like that are bad, tomorrow it will be high subsidy transit that is bad.
If the car trip provides such a high value for the city then the $15 toll will not be an impediment.
It will be an impediment. Manhattan needs us, we don’t need Manhattan.
Unless and until the MTA, the Port Authority, the state of New York, the city of New York, and even the state of New Jersey show any track record whatsoever of improving our public transportation infrastructure, this strikes me as a half-baked, BS measure.
Ironically….
The MTA actually wants vehicles so the MTA can have the CP revenue.
But the bicycle lobby Transportation Alternatives wants zero vehicles to allow bicycle expansion.
And while the City insists there is too much congestion, the City keeps enabling. allowing and creating congestion:
allowing unfettered high-rise development including super-talls and the expected casino, allowing unfettered Uber not taxing proliferating Amazon/ecommerce, shrinking street space, closing streets, allowing restaurants street shacks and continually expanding bike lanes.
MTA will actually get the vehicles because of all the ubers and lyfts which Manhattanites and gentrified NYC residents use on the regular. Transportation Alternatives gets large donations from both uber and lyft and even revel. They just want those who don’t have the privilege of spending on ubers and lyfts or getting them comped or written off on taxes to be FORCED to use overcrowded subways or not come to Manhattan at all.
If this were really about congestion the off peak rate would be $0. There is no congestion at 3 AM.
Congratulations. Here is a taste of what’s to come: absolute gridlock on UWS cross streets each morning (all year long) as hundreds of new and old commuters double park in an effort to find available spaces before jam packing your subway platforms (at all hours) to commute south of 60th. Say good bye to that coveted parking space in front of your brownstone. That’s gone, because many people, myself included, will be adjusting our commuting time to nab a free spot during street cleaning. Enjoy getting that quick cup of coffee to-go each morning? Get ready for a longer wait as hordes of new commuters grab theirs too before slogging downtown. Its going to be pandemonium on the UWS…especially btwn the W.90’s-W.70’s.
Time is money. Drive in, wait 90 minutes for alternate side and then spend $5.80 in transit fares for a net savings of $9.20?
It’s not going to happen.
I’m curious about the “vehicles transporting people with disabilities” exception. Does this refer only to things like Access-a-ride or also to yellow cabs/ rideshares intended for disabled riders?
What about disabled and seniors who need to take cabs??
So if I live on W59 and 11th, with the west side hwy on the west side of my block….I have to pay $15/day to get on the west side hwy (60 ft) and drive up to westchester to my office? lol am I really contributing to all the midtown congestion??
What is so difficult to understand about the plan? You will pay to enter the zone when you cross 60th St, not when you leave the zone.
i assume that NYCguy returns from work, thus entering the Tax Zone.
But that’s not what he said.
“I have to pay $15/day to get on the west side hwy (60 ft) and drive up to westchester to my office?”
ok, so you will pay when returning from work in westchester and entering your garage at 59 and 11, one block into the congestion zone. you are still paying $15 a day. again, not really contributing to midtown congestion but i suppose there needs to be a cutoff street somewhere and anyone who lives around that and commutes out for work will be unhappy.
This will be hard on seniors who often need a taxi to a mid-town appointment. Subways are out of the question for them because of stairs. Bus service is slow. Neither allow an elderly person or one with some hip or knee problems the ability to get right to the address without blocks of walking. Taxis need an exemption.
Like most UWSers I have no interest in ever going south of 60th St, by car or any other means. I would however like to drive to Brooklyn, Can I take the West Side Highway and the Battery Park Underpass to the Brooklyn Bridge without paying the Fine?
Or must I now drive across Manhattan to the FDR to get on the Brooklyn Bridge without paying?
Currently it looks like staying on the FDR and egressing onto Brooklyn Bridge in both directions or inbound only on the Queensboro Bridge upper roadway exiting above the congestion zone will be the only “no toll” ways to/from Brooklyn or Queens. I usually take the Queensboro Bridge (both directions). I will switch to out bound Brooklyn Bridge or use the toll bridges (Triborough, Whitestone, or Throgs Neck).
If this ends up being the case, there may be a lot of traffic shifting from Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridge to the Brooklyn Bridge. Queensboro Bridge users may also decide to go to the Brooklyn Bridge if they can stay on FDR for Queens and Brooklyn (and beyond, Nassau, Suffolk).
The question is how many drivers take the bridges without tolls that do not need to be in the congestion zone. This seemly will increase FDR and Brooklyn Bridge Traffic.
If the Westside Highway requires a toll to get to Brooklyn, Williamsburg, Manhattan bridges. The flow seems like it will also go to the FDR.
If you need to hit the congestion zone to use Holland or Lincoln that traffic may also shift to the George Washington Bridge.
Drivers already toll shop taking the Queensboro over the Midtown Tunnel, to save. Now to avoid $15 that ultimately do not need to be in the congestion zone seemly will go to Brooklyn Bridge.
They can probably switch to timed tolls, so say if you are in the congestion zone for X minutes to get to the Holland, Lincoln, Williamsburg, Manhattan, Queensboro you will not be charged.
so, I’m driving down the West side Highway and want to take the Lincoln or Holland tunnel. Neither have an exit ramp off the Highway and both require me to use city streets to access the tunnels. Similarly, entering the city from one of the tunnels requires me to use surface streets. Will I have to pay for this? Has the MTA even considered this?
They have considered it. There is a $5 discount to the $15 if you take the Holland, Lincoln, Battery or Midtown tunnels such discount if you take the GWB.
People seem to be citing the “clean air” benefit quite a bit, which sounds like a talking point to me and a canard. Air quality? Are you serious? Why do people think that the air quality on an island will change depending on whether you are on 60th Street or 42nd street? There is such a thing as wind currents which kinda makes the air quality regional, not block to block.
Using this ridiculous argument doesn’t give me much hope for the reliability of the other arguments.
Agree jeff c – see: Canadian wildfires.
If it was about clean air electric cars would be exempt.
Exactly. Because it’s about money. That’s all.
I find it interesting that so many people think the UWS is going to be flooded with motorists trying to find day street parking. Other than metered spaces, there is virtually none beyond those cars already parked for the day. And I assume NYC will beef up parking enforcement, which would be great.
On another issue: to go to Queens from north of 60th Street via the 59th Street Bridge will require briefly entering the zone, but returning via the upper level avoids that. Accessing the Lincoln or Midtown Tunnels from the two highways will apparently require entering the zone. It will be cheaper to reach Queens via the Triboro Bridge (lower toll) and NJ via the GW Bridge or Staten Island. And that’s where lots of traffic will go.
This article says 60th St but I’ve seen the zone written as “61at St or lower” in recent days. I assumed they changed it just to included the people entering Manhattan from the upper level of the Queensboro Bridge.
Now time to demand more reliable and safe transit options, especially safety subway trains.
The notion that it’s people driving into midtown is beyond ignorant. People who live on the outskirts of the city often live in lower income housing, far from subways and need heavy tools for their jobs; these are services where there’s already a shortage . The teachers, firefighters, EMS workers, plumbers, exterminators, those who need to drive because they live in transit deserts and public transportation is not an option-the fact that there is no regard and the name calling is something that will be remembered. The next time your toilet backs up, or your penthouse is full of rodents, or you need an EMS person, and there’s now more crime which is a direct result of lack of education (no teachers), remember the words you spoke in taking a basic right away from people we desperately need to have a safer and better world that just needed to drive to work. This was a direct attack on working class people, and when many Democrats become single issue voters because they are so outraged, and vote for candidates that didn’t support this locally and nationally, have fun! Oh, and you may have a marginally quicker theoretical ambulance- but no workers to drive them. Congratulations for your victory on an ideological war that in the end will harm you in so many more ways.
There’s nothing stopping people who need the services you mentioned from reimbursing the providers of such services. All the plumber or exterminator has to get is 1-2 reimbursements per day and he either breaks even or makes a little extra if he stayed in the zone all day and had multiple customers. If you need the service, pay for its entire cost.
Which makes me not trust urbanists when they talk about how if you build enough market rate housing, it will be affordable. If you had to pay the entire cost of every service you would need living in Manhattan, it wouldn’t be affordable even with all the housing in the world built.
Concerned for older people who need to get to doctor appointments, etc. and cannot use public transportation and most certainly can’t or shouldn’t be expected to ride bicycles. Fees are added to taxi fares which are already exorbitant.
Amazing that during the hearings this was never given any proper consideration.
Seniors get enough discounts and special privileges already. Sorry that for this one thing, you’ll be expected to pay your fair share.
Taxi charge makes no sense. Aren’t they trying to get people to stop driving personal cars?
In London, it has been a disaster. And, it will be the same here.
Didn’t work in London and will not work here either
The MTA is already $48 billion in debt. It is over-staffed, pays high wages, and offers extravagant retirement benefits. It is unable, or unwilling, to control the costs of capital projects. Congestion pricing will cost daily commuters over $3k a year, and will fund bonds for ‘system improvements’ while allowing the MTA to avoid making necessary cuts to staffing, wages, and retirement costs, which continue to grow, year after year. And as those cost balloon over time, the MTA can just raise the congestion pricing fees.
I doubt there will be any noticeable impact on traffic congestion in midtown –not like that was actually the purpose of congestion pricing.
Does this tax apply to someone living in the zone but drives out of it to drive their children to school? I live and park below 60th street but drive uptown to drive 2 of my children to school (UWS and UES). Am I charged to re-enter the congestion zone, in which I live? Or this only charged for those entering the borough of Manhattan?
you are not charged if you leave the zone, but you will be charged when you reenter.
Now for residential permits for street parking
Won’t this just increase traffic on the GW bridge and turn West Side Avenue into a commuter thoroughfare? I’m not looking forward to it.
How would that be different than the current situation? Highways are commuter thoroughfares by nature as they move vehicles faster than local streets.
This will be the death knell for tourism, visiting, back to work etc. for Manhattan. The overwhelming majority of tourists, visitors to restaurants, Broadway, sporting events, back to work come from outside the zone. New York should be doing everything in its power to bring people in, not keep people out.
Compared to what people are paying for restaurants, Broadway shows, or sporting events, $15 once in a while doesn’t seem very onerous.
This tax will be passed on to everyone in every possible form. Everyone should expect to now pay more for everything. Food will be more expensive, deliveries will be more expensive, every store and restaurant will raise prices to pay for their increased costs.
I’m confused why there are cameras in the far LEFT lane on 2nd Ave for those taking the Queensboro Bridge. I’m getting charged $15 for the half-block I’m in the restricted zone? I can imagine without the camera there, drivers may attempt to avoid payment by using the left lane (to continue down 2nd Ave) but couldn’t they have installed the cameras 200 feet further South, after the Bridge entrance? Anyone else notice this? Anyone else have an idea or insight on this asinine decision?