$20 tolls likely for New York’s first congestion pricing programme
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Cars will pay a toll of up to US$15 once per day, and commercial trucks will pay as much as US$36.
PHOTO: AFP
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NEW YORK – The first congestion pricing programme
Transit officials on Nov 29 provided the clearest picture yet of the tolls they hope to implement to collect roughly US$1 billion annually to fund improvements to the subway and bus networks.
The programme faces a few hurdles, including a final vote by transit leaders and a legal challenge from New Jersey officials.
But after various failed attempts over decades, New York seems poised to join a handful of other global centres with a toll programme that aims to encourage the use of public transport, reduce pollution and unclog some of the world’s most traffic-choked streets – roughly the southern third of Manhattan.
In a 19-page report, transit officials say cars would pay a toll of up to US$15 once per day, and commercial lorries would pay as much as US$36. Taxis will add US$1.25 per fare and ride-hail apps, including Uber and Lyft, will tack on an extra US$2.50 per ride.
The report also shows who will get the biggest discounts, credits and exemptions, which have been hotly debated questions. The recommendations were narrowed down from a list of possibilities that had been studied over the past year.
“It’s a huge step forward for the region,” said Mr Carl Weisbrod, chair of the Traffic Mobility Review Board, an advisory panel that wrote the report. “We’ve seen it work elsewhere around the world, and now it is becoming concrete.”
London, Stockholm and Singapore have congestion programmes that are considered models because they have successfully reined in traffic.
The board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which would oversee the programme, could still make tweaks to the pricing structure.
When the advisory group’s report is released on Nov 30, it will be opened to public input. And opponents of congestion pricing are still trying to derail it in court.
The plan had stalled for decades because of a litany of complaints from commuters as well as civic and business leaders: many drivers feared having to pay new tolls on top of existing ones, and other critics worried that traffic and pollution would be diverted to other parts of the city.
Various groups have sought exemptions, including taxi and Uber drivers as well as suburbanites, dragging out the scheme’s approval. The most aggressive objection has come from New Jersey lawmakers, who sued the federal government in July for signing off on the plan.
Officials in that state cited concerns that the tolls would place unfair financial and environmental burdens on residents. The lawsuit remains unresolved.
But for now, nothing is stopping the MTA from moving forward with the programme and unveiling a pricing structure that is most likely approaching its final version.
The most recently proposed toll of US$15 falls in the low-middle end of the fee scale that the authority had been considering, which ranged from US$9 to US$23.
The advisory group’s tolling structure also has minimal exemptions, discounts and credits, which Mr Weisbrod said was done in order to benefit “the many, not the few”.
Low-income drivers will get 50 per cent off tolls during the day after the first 10 trips in a calendar month. It will also be much cheaper to drive at night: between 9pm and 5am, fees will be reduced by 75 per cent.
Drivers of passenger vehicles who enter the congestion pricing zone through the Queens-Midtown, Hugh L. Carey, Holland and Lincoln tunnels will receive a US$5 credit during daytime hours.
Motorcycles will get a US$2.50 discount, small commercial lorries will get a US$12 credit and larger lorries will get US$20 off.
Certain vehicles carrying people with disabilities and authorised emergency vehicles will not be charged.
People whose primary residence is inside the tolling district and whose income is below US$60,000 would be eligible for a state tax credit equal to the amount of their tolls.
The report’s authors had struggled to decide how much to charge commercial lorries because of concerns that some of New York City’s poorest neighbourhoods could end up with dirtier air from diverted traffic.
But the MTA has since formally committed millions of dollars in investments for those communities, including US$20 million for a programme to fight asthma and US$10 million to install air filtration units in schools near highways.
The hope, Mr Weisbrod said, is that commercial drivers will opt to drive at night in order to ease daytime traffic and prevent new choke points from forming. NYTIMES
