The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) approved New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s congestion pricing program for Midtown and Lower Manhattan on Monday, in a 12-1 vote.
Congestion pricing would commence in January, and institute a video-enforced toll on newly-built gantries surrounding the city’s core. Traffic moving below 60th Street and Central Park, and entering from New Jersey, Brooklyn or Queens — except for via the RFK Triboro Bridge and George Washington Bridge — would be subject to the toll.
Hochul previously said she would like to see a slightly lower price point than the original $15 — around $9, citing inflation — and MTA Chairman Janno Lieber suggested last week that he was open to seeing whether a lower toll could achieve the same revenue goals.
On Monday, the MTA agreed to a phased-in congestion pricing plan that will ultimately result in Manhattan drivers getting hit with a higher priced toll by 2031.
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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks during an event at the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum in Syracuse, N.Y., in April. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
Lieber called the return of congestion pricing “huge for the MTA,” arguing that those who utilize public transit or drive into the city, as well as businesses, would benefit from the plan because it will reduce traffic.
“It’s a hopeful moment for drivers as well as for transit riders and for everybody, because life can and should get a lot better if you have to drive to New York, if you elect to drive to New York, if you’re not spending as much time in congestion,” he said. “If you can save 10, 20 or even 30 minutes, your time is money.”
While Lieber said he is hopeful for positive benefits of congestion pricing, critics claim the pricing is a tax on hard-working New Yorkers and commuters who drive into Manhattan.
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Traffic enters Lower Manhattan after crossing the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
Still, Lieber countered the opposition, claiming about 143,000 motorists enter the congestion toll zone daily compared to the 6.5 million people who use public transportation.
As for the money, Lieber told reporters after the vote that the approved $9 toll will still allow the MTA to generate $15 billion to put toward capital projects, though it may take a little longer than expected from a $15 toll.
But with Hochul’s full endorsement, he explained, the MTA has the certainty that it will be fully funded for projects. Lieber added that there will not be significant delays in completing major capital projects on the transit system.
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Recently installed toll traffic cameras hang above West End Ave. near 61st Street in Manhattan, N.Y. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
Hochul, a Democrat, halted her long-held plan for congestion pricing after initial backlash against state Democrats. But now, some of the Democrats in New York have warned that Trump may kill their revenue stream.
Last week, a group of New York Republicans wrote a letter to Trump asking him to use the power of the federal government to reverse what they called a wrongly-accelerated process by the Biden administration.
“Congestion pricing has only moved forward due to the MTA [Metropolitan Transportation Authority] and Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) manipulation of the FHWA’s Value Pricing Pilot Program (VPPP), a pilot program initially authorized by Congress over three decades ago in 1991,” the letter read.
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Pedestrians cross Delancey Street as congested traffic from Brooklyn enters Manhattan over the Williamsburg Bridge, in New York City. (Mary Altaffer/AP Photo)
“The Biden Administration even conspired to allow an abbreviated environmental review in order for the program to skip the normal process,” the letter continued.
The lawmakers — including Rep. Michael Lawler of Rockland County, Nicole Malliotakis of Staten Island and Andrew Garbarino, Nick LaLota and Anthony D’Esposito of Long Island — called on Trump to respond.
“Congestion pricing, the latest in a long string of tyrannical taxes, has been pressed forward through consistent opposition about the burden on New York families and workers, the timing of the effort, areas lacking adequate transit, the fiscal responsibility of the move, the negative impact that congestion pricing will have on residents of some of the lowest-income neighborhoods in New York City and more,” they wrote.
The lawmakers claimed Hochul is acting now because the move failed to engender goodwill to elected Democrats this past election, adding that the MTA — which falls under state auspices — is running a massive deficit in part due to fare evasion and internal waste and fraud.
Fox News Digital’s Charles Creitz contributed to this report.