NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board has approved toll rates for Manhattan’s planned congestion pricing program, which is intended to fund improvements to MTA transit programs.
The board voted 11-1 at a meeting today (March 27) to approve tolls of $15 during the day and $3.75 at night in the congestion zone below 60th street. Trucks and some buses will be charged $24 or $36 during the day and $6 or $9 at night, while motorcycles will be charged $7.50 during the day and $1.75 at night. There will also be new fees for taxis and other for-high vehicles.
“Today’s vote is one of the most significant the board has ever undertaken, and the MTA is ready,” MTA CEO Janno Lieber said in a press release. “In advance of day one of tolling, we’ve increased service on 12 subway lines, advanced redesigns of the entire NYC bus network, and implemented the largest service increase in LIRR history. And there’s more to come with the funds raised from congestion pricing – more accessible stations, modernized subway signals, and new expansion projects like Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway and Metro-North Penn Station Access.”
The New York Times reports the program is expected to raise $1 billion annual for public transit improvements and, according to a study, could reduce the number of vehicles entering Lower Manhattan by 17%. But the program, which could start in June, still faces six lawsuits from opponents; hearings on a suit brought by New Jersey are set for April 3-4. Uncertainty over the start of the program, and the resulting funding it would bring, have led the MTA to suspend a number of capital projects [see “MTA details projects at risk …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 27, 2024].
More information on the congestion pricing plan is available here.
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