NYC Congestion Pricing Starts June 30, MTA Says

NEW YORK CITY — Congestion pricing in New York City will start June 30, MTA officials said.

The announcement Friday gave motorists a long-awaited official notice when they'll face $15 baseline tolls for driving into Manhattan below 60th Street.

"Five years after the Legislature made congestion pricing New York State law, and with 4,000 pages of analysis, hundreds of hearings and outreach meetings behind us, New Yorkers are ready for the benefits – less traffic, cleaner air, safer streets and better transit," said Janno Lieber, the MTA's chair and CEO, in a statement.

The nation's first congestion pricing program still faces a slew of ongoing lawsuits in New York and New Jersey — with support from bigwigs such as Garden State Gov. Phil Murphy — that aim to put a permanent roadblock on the program's kickoff, now scheduled for one second after midnight June 30.

But, assuming the legal challenges fail, New Yorkers could very well see a very different Manhattan.

The congestion pricing zone below 60th Street is one of the most congested areas in the nation, with New Yorkers spending 117 hours a year sitting in gridlock as average traffic speeds crawl to just 7 mph, MTA officials said.

Once the program begins, an estimated 100,000 fewer vehicles will enter the congestion pricing zone every day, MTA officials said.

Transit advocates have touted those benefits, along with the $15 billion for MTA projects, from congestion pricing for years. But a majority of New York City dwellers — 64 percent, to be exact — recently polled by Siena College were unconvinced and said they oppose the tolls.

MTA spokesperson Joana Flores said the opposition likely will fade away once the congestion pricing begins, as it has for similar programs in London, Singapore and Stockholm. She noted that 85 percent of people who commute into the congestion district use mass transit

"Congestion pricing is good for the environment, good for getting fire trucks, ambulances, buses and delivery vehicles through the city, while improving air quality and making city streets safer," she said in a statement.

New Yorkers can find out more about congestion pricing, sign up for E-ZPass New York accounts to easily pay for polls and apply for discounts and exemptions here.