Congestion Pricing: Back From The Dead?

NEW YORK CITY – New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is reportedly inching toward reviving congestion pricing in the very near future, according to Politico.

The program, which was scheduled to begin at the end of June 2024, is a plan to toll drivers who enter a zone stretching from 60th Street to the southern tip of Manhattan. It aims to fund public transit and make a dent in New York City's worst-in-the-world traffic, among other things.

Hochul’s office has asked the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) if implementing congestion pricing with lower tolls – $9 instead of $15 – would require an environmental review, according to officials with whom Politico spoke, one of whom is supposedly a Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) board member.

Supporters of congestion pricing believe that if the program isn’t formally implemented before January, when President-Elect Donald Trump takes office, its pause will last until 2029 – at least.

Opponents, on the other hand, like Staten Island Republican Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, say they believe that even if Hochul greenlights a congestion pricing revival, the Trump Administration will still be able to put an end to the program.

Trump, meanwhile, has made it clear that he does not support congestion pricing, calling it a "disaster."

On top of that, even if implemented, a New Jersey lawsuit could still delay congestion pricing, giving the incoming Trump Administration additional time to find a way to ax the program.

Several hundred million dollars have already been spent on congestion pricing, with tolling infrastructure constructed across Manhattan. If given the go-ahead, MTA leadership has said the agency is ready to begin tolling drivers.

Reached for comment, a spokesperson for Hochul referred Patch to remarks she made last week when asked about congestion pricing's future:

I will re-emphasize what I said two days ago at a press conference in Manhattan about congestion pricing when I answered the same question: conversations with the federal government are not new. We've had conversations – ongoing conversations – with the White House, the DOT, the Federal Highway Administration, since June. So, that conversation continues.

I said back in June, when inflation was over 3 percent and the prices were up, that's too much for New Yorkers to be paying right now. $15 is too much. I said it then and I believe $15 is too much. So, there's nothing new between my press statements a couple days ago and today, but we're going to continue having those conversations. So, we will announce, as I've said all along, our plan before the end of this year.

Earlier this year, a Siena College poll found that as many as 45 percent of respondents supported Hochul’s decision to pause congestion pricing, while 23 percent said they opposed her decision.

What do you think about congestion pricing, the MTA’s finances, and traffic in New York City? Email michael.mcdowell@patch.com.