Congestion pricing toll gantries on the Williamsburg Bridge
Photo by Dean Moses
More people on public transit. More revenue for transit improvements. Less cars on the streets. Less pollution in the air.
These were the four primary goals for congestion pricing when it was launched in January after a two-decade battle through public debates and government bureaucracy on all levels. The skeptics said that, like many other government programs, congestion pricing would fail to achieve the stated goals and wind up as a boondoggle, hurting New York City drivers and businesses alike.
But nine months into the program, there’s every reason to believe that congestion pricing is actually one of the best things to happen to New York City’s streets in the automobile age.
New York state reported that congestion pricing — the toll program for all vehicles entering Manhattan south of 60th Street — had taken nearly 3 million vehicles off the streets in August, equal to the number reported in June, and more than 17 million vehicles in total since the toll gantries were turned on in January.
The MTA has reaped more than $250 million in tolls from drivers and is expected to beat the projected $500 million in revenue in the program’s first year.
At the same time, ridership is up in public transit — 9% in the subways, 13% on the buses, 10% on the Long Island Rail Road, 7% on Metro-North Rail Road. The 7-day average subway ridership has not been below 3 million since before congestion pricing began, according to the latest MTA data. Ridership eclipsed 4 million per day on Sept. 3-5 with schools back in session.
So far, the MTA and New York state have accomplished their mission. The 20-year-old vision to reduce traffic has worked wonders as an effective traffic reduction strategy that has made life in Manhattan safer and more livable.
However, all of this progress rests on the decision of a federal judge who will hear arguments in October in the MTA and state lawsuit against the federal Department of Transportation, which wants to throw the program out in its entirety.
Like it or not, people are leaving their cars at home instead of driving to Manhattan because they do not want to pay that $9 toll every trip. The statistics would seem to indicate that the toll itself has not prevented people from traveling into Manhattan by other, more efficient means such as public transit. In short, no one’s freedom to travel is being inhibited.
Congestion pricing underwent 20 years of debate, environmental reviews, public review, a legislative vote, a governor’s approval, approval from various federal agencies, and a president of the United States. It survived a number of lawsuits challenging its viability.
Though all of this should be enough by now for congestion pricing to be here to stay, its future nonetheless rests upon another ruling from another judge.
Here’s hoping the federal courts see the program’s legality and progress — and won’t try to fix what isn’t broken.