New York becomes the first U.S. city with a congestion charge despite opposition

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NBC News

Jan. 5, 2025, 5:30 AM EST


Motorists entering Manhattan’s busiest neighborhoods will now have to pay up to $9 in congestion charges, as New York City’s first-in-the-nation Congestion Relief Zone officially launched Sunday. New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority said that the zone opened at 12:00:01 a.m. on Sunday morning and "is fully operational.”

The scheme aims to ease New York’s infamous traffic problems and raise money for public transportation. It comes into effect despite an 11th-hour effort from neighboring New Jersey and local opposition including from President-elect Donald Trump.

Under the pricing plan, most cars entering Manhattan’s Central Business District — which stretches from 60th Street all the way down to the southern tip of the Financial District — must pay a peak fee of $9 from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends. Off-peak would be a 75% discount — $2.25. Small trucks and non-commuter buses will pay $14.40 to enter Manhattan at peak times, while larger trucks and tourist buses will pay a $21.60 fee.

Motorists will only be charged once a day, and exemptions include certain emergency and government vehicles, as well as low-income drivers and those who have medical conditions that prevent them from using mass transit. School and commuter buses are also exempt.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-york-congestion-charge-hochul-rcna186273

[Oopsie Daisy]

1. Toll booths? EZ-Pass? Or license plate readers?

[Voltaire2]

6. Mostly ez-pass.

Augmented by license plate readers.
There are no toll booths other than at the tunnels entering the congestion zone.

[IbogaProject]

19. EZ pass and licence plate readers, some within the zone

This has been implemented as a cash grab with almost zero focus on actually reducing congestion. Some of these readers are within the zone, I fear I'll get hit when I move my car to avoid the unnecessary 90 min street sweeping, twice a week, which is also a regressive cash grab. There is near zero enforcement on out of state plates using residential street parking, which are likely linked to tax evasion as well. The goal isn't to reduce congestion and the law mandates them repressively raising a billion dollars per year, they have already set $1 per year minimum increases and are required to fill any revenue shortfalls with increases. They are already scheming to increase the zone size as they know they won't hit $1B in 2025 and may never hit it. I fear it is a quiet real estate play to gut affordable local owned retail too and to further clear out lower tier office space to make it ripe for conversion. Mayor Bloomberg's original proposal would have gone to 96th street and exempted any individual who is a tax filing resident of the zone. Now the only break is for those with incomes under $50K, and then only after 10 full charge days per month, then it is just half price. I hate to say it this is giving our party a bad look. The MTA has needed a forensic audit for decades now. Coumo asked for one in 2019 but all that has happened is over priced "reviews". We pay nearly 8 to 10 times more per mile than any other transit project in history adjusted for local purchasing power parity and exchange rates. The MTA is a sinkhole of corruption and incompetence. I pray that ticket sales to Broadway, Sports and other entertainment collapses. I fear that the backlash will give the GOP an angle to slither into our city government after having one of theirs, Mayor Adams who was in the GOP until he ran for office, making our party look bad.

[Oopsie Daisy]

22. Interesting insights and background.

[IbogaProject]

23. I am biased as I am a direct target of this Scheme

I can't avoid this, where as anyone out of the Zone can and will, and then the singular fixed Revenue Goal will keep hitting the shrinking NYC middle class, I'd even be OK with one free pass a week as I pay taxes here including a NYC specific income tax.

[Oopsie Daisy]

25. I completely understand and I'm sympathetic.

[JohnSJ]

2. What about Taxi cabs, uber, etc.?

[Voltaire2]

8. Taxis have special rules that limit the impact to a

A small fare surcharge. Fuck Uber, I have no idea.

[JohnSJ]

11. I am referring in general to New Yorkers who depend on external means of transportation because they don't

Last edited Sun Jan 5, 2025, 10:39 AM - Edit history (1)

don’t own a car, and have mobility problems where the metro or bus are not easy for them to maneuver.

[BumRushDaShow]

13. There was this mention (last part of the excerpt)

exemptions include certain emergency and government vehicles, as well as low-income drivers and those who have medical conditions that prevent them from using mass transit.

I know here in Philly, we have "Paratransit" which are the smaller specialty vehicles for those with mobility issues/wheelchairs, etc.



NYC apparently has that as well (as do other large cities) -



(ETA - the ADA requires some kind of accessible transit be available)

[JohnSJ]

14. My oversight, I appreciate the correction.

[BumRushDaShow]

15. No problem

The schema looks pretty complicated. I saw where tour buses would even get charged (per day, although these fees are for the whole day).

[IbogaProject]

24. No low income exemption

Full price for first 10 rides per month and then 1/2 price, that isn't an exemption whatsoever, and that is just for incomes under $50K, which is poverty in Manhattan.

[BumRushDaShow]

28. Here...

Congestion Relief Zone Toll: Discounts and Exemptions

Some drivers and vehicles may qualify for discounts on, or exemptions from, the Congestion Relief Zone toll. Learn more below about who is eligible and how to apply.

If you already applied and received a notification that you were approved, you don't need to re-apply.

Low-Income Discount

A 50% discount is available for low-income vehicle owners enrolled in the Low-Income Discount Plan (LIDP). This discount begins after the first 10 trips in a calendar month, and applies to all peak period trips after that.

Learn more and apply.

Low-Income Tax Credit for Residents

Residents of the Congestion Relief Zone whose New York State adjusted gross income is under $60,000 may qualify for a tax credit in the amount of tolls paid. Visit the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance's website for more information.

Disability Exemptions

The Individual Disability Exemption Plan (IDEP) is available for individuals who have disabilities or health conditions that prevent them from using transit. IDEP can be applied to a vehicle registered to the applicant, or to a vehicle registered to a person the applicant designates, such as a family member or a caregiver, if they use that vehicle to drive the applicant in the Congestion Relief Zone.

Learn more and apply.

The Organizational Disability Exemption Plan (ODEP) is available for organizations that operate vehicles that transport people with disabilities—such as Access-A-Ride, ambulette services, or schools and special education facilities. To qualify for the exemption, a vehicle must be used in the tolling zone solely for the purpose of transporting people with disabilities.

(snip)

https://new.mta.info/tolls/congestion-relief-zone/discounts-exemptions

I.e., it sounds like a "tax credit"-as-exemption thing.

[IbogaProject]

29. Hmm wonder if it is a refundable credit?

Or if it just adjusts the taxes down some. But thanks for the heads up. $60K in lower Manhattan is a fairly stingy cutoff.

[IbogaProject]

20. Uber and Lyft were the biggest boosters of this Scheme

So they just pass $1.25 a ride on through to their riders.

[JustAnotherGen]

3. We will

Park at Secaucus and take the train over, or the Ferry at Liberty House.

[marybourg]

5. That's the goal!

[Scrivener7]

4. I am psyched for this.

[Historic NY]

7. Just no reason to go there

[Voltaire2]

9. Huh? NYC has a lot to see and do.

There is no good reason to drive a car into Manhattan.

[Historic NY]

12. You don't seem to understand

Upstate counties pay more in Vehicle Registration Fees already to prop up NY City and the MTA

$50 per vehicle and $12 more for driver license

Orange and Rockland county residents from paying two MTA-related fees at the DMV: the $50 MTA vehicle registration fee and the MTA driver license/permit fee, which adds $16 to a typical driver license.

These universally disliked fees were created by the 2009 MTA bailout. The 2009 MTA bailout was passed when Democrats controlled the Senate, Assembly and Governor’s office.

A larger majority of residents upstate don't commute to NY so why should we be tapped to fix their damn problem !!!

Moving a few more miles up river to Ulster County eliminates this welfare for NY City.

[marybourg]

17. If they don't commute, or ever make use

Of the City’s myriad of resources, then they don’t pay the charge and it costs them nothing.

[Historic NY]

38. Hello we already pay and we don't bring our cars there

thats the point. Why should I pay for vehicles that will never go there. We pay on our vehicles register in other county's outside ny . All my antique cars have to pay every year.

[marybourg]

40. Sounds like how in Alabama they think they are

subsidizing big cities, when it’s actually just the opposite.

[Scrivener7]

26. Seriously? Do you REALLY believe that fees from upstate "prop up"

the city?

I live outside the city. Presumably where this onerous tragic fee is levied.

I find your portrayal of it weird.

[Historic NY]

39. what county?

The Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District (MCTD) fee is a tax on vehicle registration fees in New York State for vehicles registered in the following counties:

Bronx, Kings (Brooklyn), New York (Manhattan), Queens, Richmond (Staten Island), Dutchess, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester.

The MCTD fee is $50 for two years, or $25 per year. The MCTD is administered by the department that also collects the metropolitan commuter transportation mobility tax (MCTMT), which is imposed on certain employers and self-employed people who do business in the MCTD

So the rest of the state pays nothing There are 11 million vehicles of all types register in NYS.

This is one every vehicle, antique cars must be registered yearly and have to pay it . Most people might not even drive them more than a couple hundred miles and not to NY city.


https://dmv.ny.gov/registration/estimate-registration-fees-and-taxes]

[Voltaire2]

31. I did not know that, but the congestion fee system should be able to replace these fees.

Of course that would be after the stupid 40% reduction on the initial fees end, and of course the legislature would have to act. One nice effect of congestion fees is that they only apply to people using the taxed facility, in this case the roads into lower Manhattan.

[Yavin4]

33. Good. Don't need you here.

Have enough people already.

[Voltaire2]

10. Right wing framing.

Congestion pricing is very popular in NYC, passed easily in the state legislature, and the only serious opposition was Hochul, who was somehow persuaded to delay its implementation despite it’s being essential to funding mass transit.

[Igel]

16. It wasn't popular with voters and there was an election.

Election ended, Hochul unwaived it, but at the same time said that there was a reduction in the old fee from something like $15 to $9 so they'd pay less. Some sources said drivers should be grateful that they'd be saving money, to which the response was that there was no fee before and the net fee for entering wasn't dropping from $15 to $9 but going from $0 to $9.

[IbogaProject]

21. It will be increasing by at least $1.00 per year

Last edited Sun Jan 5, 2025, 01:52 PM - Edit history (1)

That will go on up to at least $15 unless this gets scrapped. This has been a trap and the GOP is going to hammer us over this. After all Mayor Bloomberg first conceived of it, but at least was going to exempt those who file taxes in the zone. It has now devolved into a new tax with a singular goal for raising revenue with zero accountability to any actual environmental impacts or to actually lower congestion.

[Voltaire2]

32. It is quite popular in NYC. nt.

[Polybius]

18. BS, we hate it

The resent is all over local Facebook Groups. It was a cataclysmic mistake for Kathy Hochul to go along with this. It's nothing more than a tax on the poor. I hope it gets struck down.

[Voltaire2]

34. No it isn't. Very few poor people drive into lower Manhattan. It is a tax on people who cannot bother to use

mass transit. There is also a provision that provides rebates to lower income people affected by the system.

[Yavin4]

36. Thank you. n/t

[Yavin4]

35. Extremely popular in NYC.

Ever since the pandemic, congestion in the city has gotten far worse. It's difficult to even cross a street in mid-town during the day.

[Scrivener7]

27. I heard a lot of dopey arguments against it from New Yorkers.

This was originally proposed by Bloomberg years ago

I'm glad it finally passed. It'll be nicer to visit the city now. And the income can help maintain public transportation for those who can't afford to take a car into the city already. (Because most people can't afford a $50 garage.)

[FakeNoose]

30. Manhattanites who own a car and have an EZ Pass (many do) ...

... I recommend that you scrutinize your EZPass monthly statements very carefully. There are bound to be errors and double-charges on these statements, and it will take time to get the kinks worked out of this new system. You must keep written records to prove they made errors.

In the meantime, overcharges will stand unless you COMPLAIN. They will keep dinging you and hope nobody notices.

[no_hypocrisy]

37. Wondering whether CP will impact commuting, e.g.,

Last edited Mon Jan 6, 2025, 02:36 AM - Edit history (1)

a new "rush hour" where commuters will be on the roads at 4:00 a.m. and leave earlier in the day.

[marybourg]

41. That would be helpful, too.