A tough delivery
The plan was met with loads of opposition regardless of the promise of producing round $15 billion a yr in income, and a 2021 implementation date slipped to 2024. However on the final minute, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, deferring to the desires of commuters from out of state somewhat than those that elected her, paused the congestion charge three weeks before it was meant to go into effect on June 30 that yr.
Following public outcry on the lack of MTA income and the promise of worse air high quality and extra highway deaths, advocates and legislators fought again, and following a collection of lawsuits, NYC’s congestion cost went into impact on January 5, 2025, with a peak time toll of $9 and an off-peak value beginning at $2.25.
And it’s working. “Journey occasions by way of the town’s most congested corridors are down for thousands and thousands of commuting New Yorkers, whereas pedestrian site visitors is up and knowledge exhibits air is cleaner and streets are safer for cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers alike,” mentioned David Kelly, senior director on the Environmental Protection Fund. “Funding from this system is already working to enhance public transportation, permitting the MTA to buy 265 new clear, cost-efficient electrical buses and begin new tasks to hurry up trains and buses all through the area.”
Two weeks later noticed the inauguration of Donald Trump because the nation’s forty seventh president. Whereas campaigning, Trump had promised to undo the congestion cost, and he has now achieved it.
“When was the final time Donald Trump took the subway or the bus in New York? If he spent simply someday dwelling like the vast majority of New Yorkers, he’d notice the horrible congestion that contributes to polluted air and too many automobiles on the highway losing folks’s time caught in site visitors,” mentioned Sierra Membership Government Director Ben Jealous. “The Sierra Membership fought Governor Hochul’s pointless delay of congestion pricing final yr, and we’ll battle this illegal assault as properly.”