By Gus Saltonstall
The long awaited, much discussed, and deeply controversial congestion pricing program is scheduled to begin on Sunday.
Under the new rendition of the plan, which New York Governor Kathy Hochul resurrected in November after postponing the program this summer, most passenger car drivers will have to pay a $9 toll when they enter Manhattan south of 60th Street. The earlier version would have set the toll price at $15.
While the $9 toll is the basic cost for passenger vehicles during peak hours, the price goes down at other times. Peak periods are 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends. Drivers who enter the congestion zone at any other time will be charged $2.25.
The tolls will be collected through new camera infrastructure set up throughout the city, and drivers with E-ZPass linked to license plates will be able to pay the new tolls as they already do. Owners of registered vehicles that do not have E-ZPass will receive the tolling bills by mail. Drivers will only be charged the toll once per day, even if they enter the congestion zone more than once.
The goal of the plan is to reduce traffic congestion, encourage more use of mass transit, and provide new funding for improvements in the city’s public transportation. MTA, the agency that oversees city transportation, expects to increase the toll charge to $12 in 2028 and then bump the price up again, to $15, in 2031.
There are also different toll prices for trucks, motorcycles, and buses. You can check out a breakdown of the different toll prices — HERE.
Drivers who enter Manhattan but remain on the West Side Highway, FDR Drive, or the Battery Park Underpass will not be charged, even when they go south of 60th Street.
In terms of the Upper West Side, City Councilmember Gale Brewer told NBC that while she supports congestion pricing, she is worried that trucks will idle north of 60th Street, just beyond the toll zone, and finish deliveries on foot. She also suggested that local garages north of 60th Street might raise prices to take advantage of cars wanting to avoid the toll.
Even in the final days before the program takes effect, New Jersey continues to look for ways to stop congestion pricing within the court system. You can read more about that ongoing court battle on the New York Times’ website — HERE.
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Can anyone tell me what hapoens if you come across the ypper level of the Queensboro Bridge? You don’t touch down until 62nd St. Is it free? The lower level dymps you out in 60th which woukd be in the zone.
yes its free to come out at 62
As long as you stay above 60th Street, you do not pay anything. As soon as you touch 60th Street, you pay.
My understanding is that the fee is charged BELOW 60th St. , meaning that it’s free to drive on 60th, especially important for vehicles heading toward the airports.
It includes 60th Street: “The Congestion Relief Zone includes local streets and avenues in Manhattan south of and including 60 Street …”
https://congestionreliefzone.mta.info/tolling
I have a question that my research hasn’t been able to answer. We live on 72nd and West End Avenue and often drive down West End to access the Lincoln Tunnel. Will there be some sort of adjustment to my toll once I get to the tunnel to reflect that I was also charged the congestion toll? It seems to me that there is a difference between entering the zone to drive in the zone as opposed to entry in order to exit the city. To me it does, anyway.
It’s not complicated. ENTER the zone, PAY. It doesn’t matter why you’re in the zone and what your plans are.
Boris, the man who always knows it all and respond to people rudely.
In NYC, that’s a genuine compliment…thanks!
Born here, no its not.
See the FAQ. There is no way to get to or from the Lincoln Tunnel without entering the congestion zone. You get a credit of $3 against the congestion fee if you enter Manhattan via the Lincoln Tunnel and you have EZ-Pass.
Vehicles from NJ or Queens/Brooklyn entering via the tunnels pay only $6 to enter the zone but any other vehicle entering the zone to go to NJ, Queens/Brooklyn pays $9. What’s the reasoning behind that scheme?
You get a discount if you enter the zone after having paid a tunnel toll, whether it’s from NJ or Brooklyn/Queens.
The reasoning is to placate New Jersey politicians over everyone else.
But the same discount applies to vehicles entering from Brooklyn & Queens via the East River tunnels.
you don’t pay the tunnel on the way out, so if he is leaving he will pay the full CP charge.
Since vehicles pay only once a day, the scheme encourages drivers to use the tunnels both times. Someone going thru the tunnels to end up slightly north of the zone won’t be deterred from going back into the zone to get out thru the tunnels. How does that ease congestion?
If you’re going north of the zone, why not use the QB Bridge upper level and pay nothing?
That’s correct for crossing the East River. My comment referred to crossing the Hudson to/from Jersey. Deegee mentioned that there is no toll on the way out but the East River tunnels charge both ways.
(checks notes) It doesn’t…
You pay if go below 60th Street for any reason. Even for one minute. Period.
You would need to drive to the tunnel on the West Side Highway, not West End Avenue. You WILL be tolled if you take West End (remember that you don’t get stuck IN traffic, you ARE traffic). With the southbound 79th street entrance to the West Side Highway closed, you’d have to go up to 96th to avoid the toll.
If you’re headed for the Lincoln Tunnel, it makes no difference whether you come down the West Side Highway or West End Avenue. You pay the toll either way.
That is so screwed up. If you live in the W. 60’s, you have to drive a mile and half out of the way, create more pollution and congestion heading uptown, just to get on to the WSH to go south. Because who knows when the 79th South entrance to the WSH will be completed.? Another few years? It’s just crazy that the city did not make an exception for cars to turn west at 58th off West end to access the highway. or that residential parking permits were not instituted.
You don’t understand it either. You will pay the tax if you leave west end highway which you need to do to get to the tunnel
Brilliant, Chase, May I quote you? I will share with my transportation planner son your so-true words: “remember that you don’t get stuck IN traffic, you ARE traffic”
Thank you!
What is the end game of saying that, to force people on to transit options that do not exactly meet their needs? Urbanists love to say they want cities for people not cars, but PEOPLE drive cars.
Don’t see an exception for Lincoln Tunnel/West Side Highway connection…there is one for Brooklyn Battery…so we will be charged for the couple of blocks between the West Side Highway and the Lincoln Tunnel entrance?
Yes…what is so difficult to understand about the way the congestion plan works? The goal is to keep vehicles out of the zone. Those couple blocks contain some of the most congestion in the City.
Well, I suppose it’s not difficult to understand, but it does seem unfair that a car that is traveling on the two city blocks connecting the WSH and the Lincoln Tunnel only because the City never built a highway connection between the two is charged the same as a vehicle that spends the entire day driving in the Zone.
You are correct, it is inequitable. Other cities charge according to distance/time spent within the zone, the technology exists for that.
You’re quite correct! My mistake. From the MTA’s FAQ:
“Vehicles traveling between the West Side Highway and New Jersey will be charged a toll if the trip cannot be made exclusively on highways.
The connections between the West Side Highway and both the Lincoln Tunnel and the Holland Tunnel involve Manhattan streets, and so those drivers will be charged a toll. Vehicles taking these routes, however, will receive a crossing credit against the cost of the Congestion Relief Zone toll.”
Thank you. But when you are leaving the city you don’t pay a toll so there is no credit to be received if you leave the city and don’t return the same day.
This is going to lead to a lot of traffic shifting to the GWB to save tolls. If you are going somewhere like the Meadowlands from the UWS the distance is not that different so better to take the GWB and save a few bucks.
Now is the time to institute paid parking permits available to neighborhood residents and workers as parking will become a nightmare. Make it a nominal fee of $100 a year or so.
And I’m sure all of the anti-car folks around here are rejoicing. Not realizing that our neighborhood will now be full of idling cars and destroying the atmosphere. And no, this is not going to make people drive less.
No one will sit 90 minutes to deal with alternate side and compete with UWSers. Might as well pay the toll at that point.
The GW Bridge typically has a great deal of congestion. Many of those theoretical drivers who opt to drive north for the bridge will ultimately decide that it’s worth $9 to save 45 minutes.
Also by going north if their destination is south of exit 16 or so, they will pay more on the NJ Turnpike to avoid the congestion toll, maybe a wash.
At least when I do take the tunnel, it will be a breeze. Time is money.
You would have to be kinda dumb to commute to the zone before congestion pricing and pay $50 a day for parking and then change to searching for an hour for non-existant street parking north of the zone. Only to then take the subway to save $3 ($9 toll minus a roundtrip subway fare).
The early bird special rates are competitive with commuter rail fares. Especially if you have to transfer to the subway and pay for parking at a train station.
They will idle for a couple months into 2025 and will then disappear. It’s like those who sign up for gym memberships on Jan 1st and are not seen in the gym after Feb.
Upper level of Queensboro into Manhattan and staying above the congestion zone avoids the congestion toll.
The traffic on both sides of the Upper level will be tremendous.
No advantage to using the outbound upper level. And the only drivers who will opt for the inbound upper level exclusively are those headed for north of 60th Street anyway.
It seems like one would be charged to enter the city using Midtown Tunnel, 59 st bridge etc shunting all UWS traffic to the Triborough, no? It will be difficult to access the UWS now.
The toll for the RFK Bridge is $7 for those with a NY EasyPass and $9 for those with other passes. So not much if any savings, especially if one takes the Midtown Tunnel which will cost only $6.
why would it be difficult to access the UWS? i live here with no car and have no problem with acccess.
It will be expensive to access the UWS via car. That seems to be the whole goal, to make driving in Manhattan more costly.
Hopefully this will be put on hold in the next day or so by the judge.
Very unlikely – why should NJ have any say on what NY does on our streets? Does NY get to sue NJ for tolls on the turnpike?
I’ll be celebrating when congestion pricing goes into effect, even though this watered down toll will not be as impactful as the original $15, hopefully there will still be enough drivers who opt for public transit and free up space on our streets.
You are wrong on so many levels. This tax is just going to be passed on to you with higher prices for everything. Every business gets deliveries. This is going to kill tourism, restaurants, Broadway, as well as back to work initiatives just when New York was coming back. Making it harder and more expensive to do things is never a good idea.
it will not kill tourism, no one driving into town to see a Broadway show who’s spending upwards of $300-400 (per pair) on tickets, couple hundred on dinner for two (or family of 4), $50 for parking is going to change their mind and refuse to be a “tourist” all on account of a $9 toll.
So you’re making the point that the congestion fee will not deter congestion?
I’m just saying tourism will not die as Tim suggests. For evening commutes into the city for the scenario I suggest it will not deter congestion (maybe small amounts of people will get the hint and take Mass Transit, but the thought of waiting an hour for a 1am train after being out all night vs $9 to drive…you do the math. And for working people at 7am coming into the city, it hopefully will, maybe those people will want to avoid the extra $9…or worse, those folks are now going to infest the UWS (and UES) co-opting whatever small amount of parking already available to take the train down to work.
I doubt people will want to spend 90 minutes waiting for alternate side in the middle of the day up here.
A truck makes multiple stops when it delivers within the zone. Allocating a single truck congestion charge among all the stops will make the individual impact negligible.
New Jersey residents who work in New York pay New York income tax as there is no tax reciprocity between the two states. Their employers also pay taxes to the MTA and to New York. Not only that, but we have a bistate port authority that would have been the better agency to administer this toll program. Port authority has bought trains and buses for the MTA in the past.
And the people who work in NY but live in NJ get a tax credit on their NJ taxes for what they paid to NY. So it’s a wash.
However many more New Jersey residents work in New York than vice versa.
Thanks, but that doesn’t have any relevant to why NJ should get to sue for veto rights over NY’s congestion pricing. Despite the lack of merit, I’ll keep my fingers crossed until Sunday because there are some powerful interests who are hellbent on killing this program.
Conversely there are some powerful interests that are hellbent in implementing congestion pricing, including the same guy that donates large amounts of money to RFK Jr.
Tom – Yes the major contributor to the bicycle lobby Transportation Alternatives is very rich and powerful. And was an active member of RFK Jr.’s election team.
NJ residents who work in the City earn higher NY pay but have lower NJ living expenses. So even if they come into the City to work 5 days a week, that amounts to $120 /month in congestion fees. I’m sure they still come out ahead especially if there are multiple people in one vehicle. The new charge might actually encourage car-pooling.
Before anyone starts in with the lack of transit options available to many NJ commuters, if they are that far away, then their living expenses are really low. If one lives in Fort Lee, where expenses are higher, there are lots of convenient transit options.
When you have to use transit options between NJ and NY every day, you get tired of it, especially if you are commuting off peak. There is a reason why people who live on the UWS own cars. Not only that, what is the incentive for NJ Transit to improve service only to lose tax revenue to NY? Why don’t you tell someone who can’t afford to live on the UWS to go live in Fort Lee? It seems like Manhattanites pay a premium to live here and see us as dirt under their feet.
The mismanagement of the MTA is criminal. Only a NY democrat would pay for the failed transit system by taxing people who don’t use the transit system. When will people wake up. Enforce the law and stop the fare beaters and have people who use transit pay the fare, is that too much to ask?
What elements of the management of the MTA do you consider criminal mismanagement? I would be interested in some specifics.
I would hardly describe NY’s transit system as failed.
They should be paying us to take the subway. Drivers cause the congestion, the noise and the pollution not subway riders.
What about the disabled, the sick, families with children? I used to walk five miles one way to the office and five miles back, but I can certainly understand that not everyone can or wants to do that.
no do both. driving is already subsidized and you are not paying for the damage done by driving.
How is driving subsidized? By charging $8 to park on the street for 2 hours?
Of course it’s not too much to ask. We used to enforce fare beating. There used to be awareness that criminality doesn’t come out of nowhere; it starts by getting away with small crimes.
People need to vote better.
Sadly, they won’t.
I’ll hopefully have the opportunity to “vote better” for a governor who supports congestion pricing and NYC instead of our bumbling current governor who has completely whiffed on CP and deferred far too much to NJ and suburban interests
What are the odds NY has a Republican governor in 2027?
One can only hope.
That’s right, we need sterling characters like Greg Abbott or Kristi Noem here in New York…
Probably low, especially once the consequences of the 2024 presidential election becomes clear, but time will tell.
Have the of the consequences of the 2020 election become clear yet?
The red wave did not materialize nationally in 2022, but came for New York.
Question re congestion pricing…if you drive south on West Side Highway from uptown, heading for Lincoln Tunnel will you be charged the congestion toll between the exit from the West Side Highway and the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel? to access the Lincoln Tunnel from the West Side Highway you have to drive on 12th ave and then turn on 42nd Street…
How is this not going to increase already heavy traffic on the Henry Hudson?
why would more cars all the sudden be on the highway?
I have the misfortune to live on 58th St. Silly me when I bought my apartment 26 years ago that I couldn’t have predicted another money grab from our legislators. Why should I have to pay to drive to my own home where I pay a fortune in taxes.
You should be happy that the area around your home is expected have less pollution, noise, filth, and congestion. If you’re driving every day, then maybe you’re part of the current problem. If not, then you’ll enjoy the benefits.
I really don’t need a lecture. I don’t drive..in fact I don’t keep a car in the city. My point is that people who live in the zone should be exempt. It’s double taxation.
That would defeat the purpose of reducing congestion. Bringing a car into the zone creates congestion whether you also live there or not.
Didn’t intend to come off as lecturing you but I think your grasp of the concept of double taxation is tenuous. Taxation and fees are totally different schemes. The congestion pricing charge is essentially a usage fee.
that’s what they’d like you to think, but it’s really a tax on drivers to pay for mass transit. It’s acting like a toll, but instead of the money going to to improve the roads, it’s improving mass transit.
Your grasp of “fairness” is tenuous. Governor Hochul keeps pointing to congestion pricing in London — which specifically exempted residents of the congestion zone. Apparently the British don’t share your interpretation of a “usage fee.”
I would be much more sympathetic here if anyone really believed that this will alleviate the traffic issues in Manhattan (clearly a laudable goal), instead of simply being a money grab by the MTA — which has an extremely poor history of financial management. Someone just got thrown in front of a subway this week by a crazed lunatic. Until the MTA and NYPD foster a sense of confidence in the safety and reliability of public transport, you can’t ever properly address the congestion issue.
And please also throw in the issue of ghost plates, because I find it extremely unfair that scores of drivers are selfishly evading tolls and the NYPD and PANY are just too lazy to enforce the rules. Cars with obscured plates pass right by PANY checkpoints at the entrances to the tunnels, and no action is taken. How do I know this? I witness it on a routine basis. A few weeks ago I watched a minivan pop open its rear hatch while entering the Holland Tunnel in order to avoid the toll — and four PANY police officers sat by as a vehicle traveling at speed *with a door open* entered the tunnel. It’s a reasonable question to also ask how many of these vehicles are owned by city employees, which is particularly insulting. Don’t penalize those who follow the rules with even more tolls until you make a basic effort to ensure that everyone else is actually paying their fair share.
Yes absolutely NYPD need to prioritize enforcement of ghost plates / toll evasion. IMO having fake/obscured plates should be an immediate tow/boot and the car should be impounded. NYPD used to do this in the Bloomberg administration.
That in no way invalidates CP as a way to mitigate traffic which you rightly point out is needed.
I usually avoid comparisons to other localities unless one also takes into account other related factors. For example, would you be willing to pay more for your trip based on the distance you travel as riders do in the greater London area? The NYC transit system is unique in having a flat fee.
Also New York did not have free bus to subway transfers until 1997. Bus routes in most of Manhattan and all of the Bronx did not have bus to bus transfers at all between 1962 and 1975.
its so easy to avoid the toll though, just don’t drive.
I would like to see you with a broken leg, and a couple of toddlers navigate the subway!
Or move out of NYC and avoid all the taxes and fees entirely!
Yes – and lots of people will move out of NYC. The price of apartments will go down!
Like I did.
A friend mine seeing the fare in his future, sold his apartment in the Parc Vendome on West 57th Street and left the city.
Great!
I do not drive so this really does not impact me, unless of course I need an Uber or taxi to take me through midtown. But the fare beating really irks me. I go to Chinatown once a month and every time I get off the Q line on Canal street, I see homeless people keeping the gate open and countless people not paying fares, and some tipping him. This is a tiny example of the fare beating which adds up to millions of $s.
Will impact you. Businesses already said they’ll be adding a surcharge for deliveries and businesses will past surcharge onto the consumer and for those who drive, shop and dine after they pay will essentially pay double, RIP businesses below 60th.
No matter how much NY raises our taxes, and adds new levies and fees that will continue to get hiked, we still have yawning annual deficits. Perhaps the politicians in charge should really focus on reducing their spending?
The state and the city are not allowed to run “deficits.” They have debt but it’s through agencies like the MTA and the Water Board, not general government expenses.
A public benefit corporation is allowed to bypass state limits on debt.
And there goes all accountability! Welcome to the MTA!
The goal of the plan is to reduce traffic congestion, encourage more use of mass transit, …
1. Shouldn’t they make the subway safe first? It is the world’s worst subway.
2. Midtown delivery trucks have to drive in regardless of the toll.
3. I am in for DONOTPAY movement.
sam,
The purpose of Congestion Pricing is revenue for the MTA.
As for “congestion”, NYC continues to enable, add and create new congestion.
For example, NYC has allowed unfettered Uber and continues focusing policy on benefiting ecommerce which has resulted in more vehicles.
And looking ahead – the casino on queue will not reduce vehicles/congestion LOL.
The subway in fact very safe, much safer than driving. Traffic fatalities are normalized with minimal press coverage whereas subway crime gets front page of the Post treatment
UWS Dad,
I take the subway 5-7 days a week.
The subway is “OK” IMO and personally I manage, but am surprised you’d dub it as “safe”?
There are crimes – on the subway as well as out of the subway – which are not fatalities such as sex crimes, assaults, robberies. They are felony crimes.
The person who was shoved on the tracks at 18th Street will thankfully survive – but it is still a crime.
Also worth remembering that workers on night shifts, trying to get home late at night on public transit (and in NYC then likely a walk from the subway or bus) are in a much more difficult situation.
Yes of course millions of people take the subway daily at all hours (myself included), the point is not that no crime ever happens (an impossible standard) but that relative to other transportation options such as driving, you are much safer on average. Those high profile crimes you mention do happen but are very rare, they just get so much press coverage that they feel more likely than they really are.
Hi UWS Dad,
I’d appreciate hearing more about your opinion relating to workers -especially women – who must get home late at night on the subway?
Especially if they live far out in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens?
You sense is that they should not be worried?
UWS Dad,
Please be aware that there is quite a lot of crime in New York City that does not get reflected in the media.
That is not to say things are safe or not unsafe.
Plus we all know there is variation in crime depending upon neighborhoods.
Some of my co-workers who live far out in the borough have had really scary situations in getting home at night. If they had the opportunity to go home at night in a car, they would rather a car than the subway.
They would not say that the subway is safer than driving.
Of course the subway crime gets front page treatment. When you are not in your own personal space, people tend to be more nervous. Not only that, most people simply tolerate the subways, they are not enthusiastic about using them regardless of what the ridership numbers are or how many cops you add. You can add 5,000 cops to the subways and people still merely will tolerate them. That is why Citibike, Uber and Lyft are so popular among Manhattan residents even before criminal justice reform. This is just a zero sum game to grab the streets for “chosen” people while “unwanted” people like myself are forced to use transit and then when we complain, get scolded by Manhattanites. The House majority runs through districts like mine, not Manhattan. Also the Democratic state senate supermajority was broken and it is districts like mine that determine that, not Manhattan.
That outsized press coverage makes people think that transit is not safe when in fact it is very safe & vice versa for drivers.
Driving in NYC seems extremely unpleasant to me but if people want the convenience they should also pay for the negative externalities of traffic/pollution that they inflict on the rest of us. It’s really that simple and has nothing to do with anyone being scolded or whatever chosen/unwanted groups you are talking about
The lifestyle of UWS residents depends on those negative externalities. Even if you do not like driving, everything comes from motor vehicles whether you like it or not. Before we had cars, we had the negative externalities of horse feces on city streets. There is a reason why cars are needed.
On West End Ave – why is the CP camera apparatus situated closer to 61st Street?
Shouldn’t it be at 60th Street?
Once you cross 61st Street, unless there is a driveway into a garage, there is no way to stop you from entering the intersection at 60th Street.
It’s also located there to prevent cars from backing out to avoid entering the zone. I envision drivers doing some wild driving maneuvers to avoid the fee and creating haphazard traffic patterns on streets near the zone.
Get ready for the price of everything now to increase so businesses can cover this fee. Every delivery to every restaurant will now be more expensive. Just like minimum wage increases, taxes, tariffs, they are all just passed on to the consumer.
Exactly why so much traffic will be redirected towards the bridge. Well, at least from the UWS.
So my daily commute is literally from 60th street west end to 59th street bridge to Queens . I understand coming back I can possibly take Upper roadway from queens to 62nd to avoid the charge . What about getting to the bridge ? I think so crazy to be charged for a block to get on the 59th st bridge
Would you feel better about it if you were on 70th St which is 11 blocks away? You’re neglecting the fact that you’re adding to the congestion by driving across Manhattan from the westside to 3rd Ave which is a far greater distance than going from 60th to 59th St.
I can’t wait to see what people do to avoid paying the fee. Most likely, a lot of license plates that don’t get picked up by the cameras and EZ Passes removed from windshields. People backing up into the zone with no front plates.
You know who won’t be paying? The guy who owns the huge 1980s-era silver Caddy Eldorado ghost car that parks around 96th Street a lot these days. He parks in front of the church, anywhere he wants. I’ve seen him working on it before. It has a fake registration and plates that belong to another car, he thinks nobody notices and the police don’t care. So he and other people like him won’t pay. Just like the people who get on the bus without paying don’t pay.
This is precisely the problem. The fees are being assessed on drivers who already follow the rules and pay their bills. There are all sorts of rules against ghost plates, but the NYPD and PANY hardly do anything to enforce them. It seems that some NYPD officers are among the scofflaws themselves. The corruption and fecklessness has to end, and honestly, that seems like a more critical priority than congestion pricing.
Lack of NYPD enforcement is a huge problem. Hopefully Tisch keeps cleaning house at the NYPD and the officers on the ground are empowered to boot / impound these cars with fake plates.
You know who else will not pay, package thieves. I personally witnessed package thieves with Amazon packages in a van with paper plates driving on the UWS.
Various unions (including transit workers) are against CP, NYU-Langone requested but did not get an exemption and the restaurant sector among others are very worried about CP.
https://nypost.com/2024/12/21/opinion/congestion-pricing-will-severely-hurt-nycs-food-supply-chain/
As if street parking wasn’t enough of a nightmare for UWS residents as it is. Now, every bridge & tunneler from outside Manhattan will be parking above 60th in order to avoid the $9 charge. Impeach Hokum and repeal this idiocy right now!
Where exactly are they going to park without getting ticketed?
The traffic situation has been impacted by the 96th Street bus lanes.
Congestion Pricing impact next.
Travel on the WestSide Highway is free. Is there a place to enter the WSH to travel sound between 60th St and 96th?
We live in the 70s and often went fown WEA to 57th or lower to grt on. Some people will surely travel north to enter to avoid the toll. How many and what tyat does to traffic sounth of 86th remains to be seen.
I can’t wait. Will gladly pay this tax to have less traffic around me when I drive, it will mean less cars on the road. Bring this tax to $100, couldn’t care less, I will still drive to my office. Go save the planet somewhere else.
While cities in America are trying to make it harder to drive, up and coming world powers like Turkiye are building new highways and letting their working class have easier access to cars.
America made that mistake in the ~1960s, Turkiye is hardly the sort of forward thinking country we want to be emulating. Look at other world-class cities like Paris, London, Tokyo, and Singapore that are encouraging public transit.
Make sure your EZpass is in order otherwise you will be charged more for entering the cp zone $13.50 instead of $9
Reading these comments and seeing the complete lack of critical thinking skills and ability to foresee consequences of this money grab (yes, that’s all it is) is depressing. These are probably the same people who were cheering “bail reform” without seeing where that would lead us. No wonder we have elected government leaders who make every decision to torpedo New York City.
It’s nice to get one of the “most commented on stories in 2025” winners on Jan 2nd.
BTW:
Though the powers that be insist that CP is necessary to raise money for the MTA and/or reducing vehicles in Manhattan, it should be noted that the Governor took action that actually encourages Bronx residents to drive to Manhattan – Bronx residents with EZ pass now are entitled to free tolls at the HH bridge.
https://www.riverdalepress.com/stories/finally-the-end-of-the-henry-hudson-bridge-toll-for-bronx-residents,132806
Take the train like everybody else, what makes car drivers so special?
Can somebody explain why it’s fair that the congestion zone boundary is right down the middle of a residential neighborhood, with apartment buildings on both sides of the border, with people on 60th street being charged a fee for, say, picking up a person with mobility issues in front of their building, while people a few doors up on 61st street are not? Tolls are traditionally paid at geographic boundaries, i.e. crossing rivers, not arbitrarily placed within a single neighborhood. The fair thing would have been to make all of Manhattan the congestion zone, so that Upper West Side residents can do their local business without getting tolled, as is the case in every other neighborhood in NYC.
You have to draw the line somewhere. Midtown (commercial/office) is a lot more congested than the mainly-residential uptown. It sucks that you have to take that new charge into account when you drive your personal car into midtown, but a lot of things suck. Take comfort in the fact that it’s helping close the MTA’s budget holes (I know it’s not perfect but perfect is the enemy of the good) and improving congestion for the people who do choose to pay. And improving air quality I guess.
That makes no sense. You want to enlarge the congestion area so that all Manhattan residents are not deterred from driving around Manhattan? We’ve jumped the shark from lamenting about commuters who live in areas underserved my mass transit to those who live in Manhattan with lots of transit options.
You’re missing the point. Manhattan car owners are not the cause of downtown congestion. Upper West Siders are not commuting to jobs in midtown, they’re not hopping in the car to go to a Broadway show. They’re already heavy mass-transit users. The main reason why a UWS resident might drive would be to:
a) transport persons with medical or mobility issues
b) transport large items, furniture, boxes, etc that are impractical with mass transit
c) travel to destinations not served by mass transit, particularly out of the city.
Believe me, Manhattan residents don’t relish driving in Manhattan, but sometimes it’s necessary, as it is for many New Yorkers throughout the city. But under this plan residents in certain neighborhoods are forced to pay a fee just to return home, or in some cases just to drive one block from where they live. And by a completely random decision, a neighbor who lives a half-block away on the same street does not pay that fee. Where else in New York is that the case? Where else in any city is that the case? Because in cities like London, which everyone points to as a model for the NYC congestion plan, residents within the zone are given discounts, and congestion fees are based on distance driven within the zone. But proponents of the NYC plan like to cherry-pick the parts they like from London and ignore the parts that are inconvenient to them. And don’t give me the carnard that everyone who lives in Manhattan is wealthy and can easily afford this; that is absolutely false, I can attest to that personally.
The original boundary was 86th Street.
Supporters of this tax like to point to London. No one mentions the differences, which are significant: residents of the congestion zone get a 90% discount; congestion pricing doesn’t apply after 6pm and before 7am during the week (after 6pm and before 12pm on weekends); motorcycles and taxis are exempt.
Londoners argue about whether traffic congestion has in fact been reduced, which suggests that if it has been reduced, it’s not by much.
London is organized more like Chicago than NY. In NY people live EVERYWHERE. In London the central districts (roughly between Hyde Park and the City) don’t have a lot of residences. There are some neighborhoods which are captured by the zone but it looks like they’re pretty wealthy (and London “wealthy neighborhoods” make Park Ave look reasonable).
TfL (their MTA) claims that the reduced traffic has allowed reconstructing roads to put more emphasis on liveability, constricting them, so congestion hasn’t changed that much. But apparently no study can prove causality, so I guess you can believe whichever one confirms your priors. Having lived in London for a bit in the ’90s I think the tradeoff of congestion pricing to improve neighborhoods makes a lot of sense for a city which was built in the 1600’s
The sky is falling… again!
Remember Citibike? Cue the whining and dire predictions. People getting run over. Loss of valuable parking spaces. This isn’t Amsterdam, Etc. Now it’s part of the city’s fabric.
Remember bike lanes? Will create impossible traffic. Loss of valuable parking spaces. People getting run over. It’s just not right. Etc. Now it’s part of the city’s fabric, and maybe even converted some people to cyclists, improving their health as well as the environment.
Remember how the Gilder Center was going to destroy the parks and somehow lead to the downfall of the neighborhood? It’s sitting there now and seems fine to me.
This too shall pass. $9 is trivial when compared to the extreme costs of dealing with a car in NYC. Maybe pass on your daily venti latte, that will help manage your budget. But if you’re really commuting to midtown in your personal auto, you should zoom out a bit and consider the feasibility of that arrangement.
And no it’s not going to raise prices. Do the math. Think about all of the costs of truck delivery – gas, labor, equipment, etc – and the value of the products being delivered. $9 is a rounding error. So yeah a pack of gum may go up 10c… due to CP… sure… time to flee to the suburbs. See ya.
As for the subways being unsafe – 3.6m people ride the subway EVERY DAY. Do the math. People dying from criminal/insane acts is terrible, but I’ll take those odds any day over being in an uber/taxi being driven by an unknown barely-vetted underpaid driver. People are terrible at assessing risk.
Thank you! Very well said, any change creates a lot of griping. We need leaders who can do the hard things that make life better for the city as a whole and withstand the complaints from the loud minority.
Sorry – as a pedestrian, bicyclists (particularly Citibike) endanger me and my family daily.
Also bicycling does not reduce vehicles. Bicyclists are former bus and subway riders – not former drivers.
Yes bus and subway should be the priority – and bicyclists should be taking mass transit bus and subway.
First, learn how to cross the street with bicycles. Look both ways. It’s not hard. Again, poor risk assessment, look at the stats, getting hit by a car is a lot worse and unfortunately more common, a quick google search will confirm that.
Second, bikes are great for getting around the neighborhood, so I’d posit they replace taxi/uber rides not subway/bus. And even if they do, so what? The infrastructure is there. Maximizing the modes of non-private-car transportation is a Greater Good that drives expert public planning, which is why bicycle infrastructure is exploding nationwide. But I guess you know better?
Data > Opinion
Hi WSR – could you add a link in the article to the FAQ on the MTA website especially about exemption plans for the mobility impaired? Some folks in the comments are clearly not informed that a vehicle can be exempt from the charge in the Zone if a mobility impaired person has designated the driver as their caretaker – or if the impaired person can drive but not use transit.
There are 2 conflicting purposes for CP:
The MTA wants the revenue – so the MTA actually wants vehicles to come to the CP zone.
But the bike lobby wants CP so there are zero vehicles and justify bike lane expansion.
Another issue of concern: CP is for subway capital – CP is not to increase bus service
The MTA has actually been cutting bus frequency and bus routes for years.
CP will not increase bus service in Manhattan.
Also bus service continues to decline as City DOT allows more street closings and Open Streets on bus routes forcing detours.
The proponents of congestion pricing do not actually want congestion to seriously decrease, because if it did, the amount of funds generated for the subway system would not materialize to the degree expected. Wouldn’t it be great if cars coming into Manhattan decreased by 50-60-70%? Disaster for the MTA capital plan!
Phenomenal. And now for residential parking permits
So you can hog all the parking spaces for yourselves rather than fight the bigger enemies?
One purpose for parking permits is to require the car have a NYC address and insurance of the same address.
There are all these out of state plates, where many register the vehicle out of state to get cheap insurance and avoid NY State tax for registration.
If you do not want cars those are the first to eliminate right after the ghost cars.
Also get rid of the NYCHA parking subsidy,
Fun alternative logic: if a truck enters the zone and there really is less congestion, they will be able to make their deliveries much faster and make more deliveries in the same time. That should easily offset the extra charge.
There will not be an increase in Manhattan buses – no increase in frequency and no increase in routes.
MTA is raising bus and subway fares in 2025.
The cost of a taxi and Uber will increase again.
Manhattan COL will increase.
The bike lobby Transportation Alternatives-Open Plans is pushing for more and expanded bike lanes and Citibike.
Summary:
CP is a disaster if have mobility or health issues, if you are not rich (higher costs but not more buses).
CP is great for bicyclists, the healthy wealthy.
Well said
This tax is so ridiculous. So I brake my foot and have to take a cab to see my doctor on 57th I get a $9 tax every time. I don’t have a public transportation choice. The elderly and poor the same. Bring my son home from school in a cab at night to be safe I get taxed again. All our deliveries from NJ are taxed so guess who pays. Don’t we pay enough?
If you actually read the guidelines, you would have seen that taxis are not charged $9 and the passenger pays only $.75 per trip. Getting to your appointment faster will also save you on taxi idling time.
This is my opinion regarding this issue.
The MTA is a very wasteful, corrupt, and poorly managed agency. Now, from the onset of this Congestion Pricing, they had already put a price tag on how much money they must raise for the MTA, so it is not about reducing traffic, or improving air quality and the quality of life. It’s about money, money, money. Imagine if magically, all that traffic suddenly disappears, that means no money for the MTA. They do not want to reduce traffic, they want more traffic because that is whats going to pay up the tolls and generate that revenue that the MYA is after. It’s a money grab, a tax on the working people and it is wrong! Day by day it feels more and more like the government is limiting our ability to move freely, so much for New Yorkers being “pro democracy, and pro freedom”. Take what you want out of my message, but it is wrong to take money from people that should be going to feed their families.
I understand that city wants to reduce the traffic! What I don’t understand is uws or ues is also a part of the city and heavily congested. They are giving examples of London and Singapore but look at their public transportation, it has been in great condition from ages, they have permit parking systems from many years. We don’t have any such facilities and just like that council imposed congestion pricing. First you have to give permit parking at least. I understand that to bring changes in public transportation one needs funding but start from somewhere where you don’t need funding.
Yellow taxis are surcharged $2.50
Green taxis are surcharged $2.75
not 75 cents as stated
Excited for this to finally make our neighborhood safer, quieter, and cleaner.
Can someone explain to me how the UWS is not going to become a giant Parking Lot? Commuters taking our limited spots, parking their cars and taking 72 Street 1/2/3 train downtown? How exactly is this going to be of ANY benefit to our neighborhood. All I envision is more traffic, more cars, more idling, less parking, more noise. Give us parking permits. Exempt us from a tax to drive around in our own neighborhood!
If you are paying $5.80 for a round trip subway ride to avoid a $9 fee, might as well pay the extra $3 and go all the way. If you have multiple people in a vehicle, the $9 fee is cheaper.
Driving in, finding parking and then taking a subway there and back would save about $3, doesn’t seem worth it so I doubt we’ll see a lot more people driving in to park on the UWS. But agree it would be great if we could stop giving free street parking to NJ residents.
Yesterday a guy getting of a parked car asked if I knew of a local parking garage.
His calculus is to stop parking in the congestion zone and take the GWB instead of the Lincoln Tunnel. I didn’t get into the particulars of how much he was paying for parking in the congestion zone.
What he did say is won’t take NJ public transportation. So I guess he is ok with the NYC subway if he finds a garage on the upper westside.
Basically he will take a garage spot and not a street spot. I would gather if this adds additional demand monthly parking rates will go up above the zone