QUINIX Sport News: New Yorkers mixed on congestion pricing as program shifts into drive

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New York City concluded its first week with its congestion pricing program, which aims to reduce traffic in Manhattan and increase funding for the city’s public transit, after years of roadblocks and concerns about a public backlash.

Some New York City residents said they worry the government won’t come through on their transit promises and instead will just make driving more expensive for workers who can’t afford the additional costs.

“My clients are not particularly millionaires,” said Jan Lee, a contractor who lives in Chinatown and owns and renovates residential properties in Manhattan and Brooklyn. His plumbers and other subcontractors must drive commercial vehicles into the congestion pricing zone, which will force him to pay them more and charge clients more, he said.

“They are working-class people that are renovating their home, and oftentimes, my people that I serve are left out of this conversation.”

Kevin Graney, a software engineer, lives on the Upper West Side, outside the affected zone but parks his car within it. He thinks congestion pricing is a good idea but wishes it was applied to the entire island because it could increase traffic and parking issues uptown.

Graney is a cyclist and thinks fewer cars on the road would make it easier for bikers, but he worries about people using fake license plates – a problem that predates congestion pricing – to avoid paying the new tolls. (Over the last year, the city and state have increased their efforts to crack down on so-called “ghost cars”.)

“I just hope the implementation lives up to the pitch for it,” Graney said.

The program, approved by local, state and federal governments, charges drivers who during peak hours – 5am to 9pm on weekdays and 9am to 9 p.m. on weekends – enter the congestion pricing zone, which covers Manhattan south of 60th Street with the exception of a few roadways.

The New York governor, Kathy Hochul, has said the tolls will raise $15bn for the Metropolitan Transit Authority and “unclog our streets, reduce pollution and deliver better public transit for millions of New Yorkers”.

By contrast, many Manhattanites and commuters into Manhattan argue that public officials have mismanaged the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and that this program will waste money collected from people whose work requires that they drive, rather than use trains, to enter the city.

“I do think ultimately that this is going to be accepted – not joyously – but I think the system is so vital to the whole state of New York, we really don’t have any choice,” said David R Jones, president and chief executive of the Community Service Society, an anti-poverty non-profit, and an MTA board member.

New York is the first city in the US to try congestion pricing, but London, Stockholm and Singapore have previously implemented such programs. London installed a charge on drivers in 2003 and over the first year, congestion in the zone fell by 30% and traffic levels fell by 16%, according to a report in the Public Works Management & Policy journal. Other cities using the program saw similar results.

Former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg first proposed congestion pricing in 2007, but the state legislature didn’t approve the program until 2019. The program was supposed to launch in June 2024, but at the last minute, Hochul postponed its implementation indefinitely because she said she was concerned about “financial stress, high inflation and already the high cost of living for so many New Yorkers”.

Some suggested that Hochul decided to intervene because of concerns that the new charges would hurt area Democrats in an election year. The move sparked outrage from supporters.

Then in November, the governor announced that the state would finally install the program, but charge drivers of passenger vehicles $9 to enter Manhattan instead of $15, as had been planned. The tolls charge $14 for drivers of small trucks and non-commuter buses and $21 for large trucks and sightseeing buses. Low-income vehicle owners can apply to receive a 50% discount after the first 10 trips in a calendar month.

At this very early stage, the tolls appear to have had only a modest impact on commute times within the congestion zone. On 9 January, travel on routes within the congestion zone took about 10 minutes; on 9 December, the figure was 11 minutes, according to the Congestion Pricing Tracker, a project from two college students based on Google Maps traffic data.

However, on the Holland Tunnel for example, which is in the zone and connects New York and New Jersey, commute times at 8am Wednesday decreased by six minutes and at 5pm by seven minutes, as compared to before the tolls went into effect.

A valet at a parking garage near the tunnel said on Tuesday afternoon that he’d seen a slight decrease in the number of drivers, mostly from New Jersey, leaving their cars there.

“Some customers have said that they prefer not having to pay two to three times the amount now that they were paying about a week ago or last year, but apart from that, there are not a lot of disgruntled customers,” said Nick, who did not want to give his last name.

If successful, public officials hope congestion pricing will help address the MTA’s $33bn budget shortfall. Still, concerns remain about fare evasion and safety on the subways – particularly after recent violent incidents.

“There is definitely skepticism about the MTAs management of resources and high costs and overruns associated with certain projects,” said Ana Champeny, vice-president for research at the Citizens Budget Commission, a nonprofit watchdog group which advocated for congestion pricing.

“Is that based in some fact? Yes, but nonetheless, there is a substantial and significant need to invest in a state of good repair, to maintain and modernize our system.”