The toll charges most drivers $9 to enter lower Manhattan south of 60th street on weekdays, with lower prices at night and higher tolls for large trucks, tour buses, and vehicles without an E-ZPass. It’s supposed to raise $15 billion for infrastructure improvements at the MTA and disincentivize traffic and pollution in one of the most hectic business districts in the world.
After a federal judge in New Jersey dismissed a last-ditch attempt from opponents to block the plan on Friday, the MTA celebrated the start of the toll on Sunday.
“It’s time to get to work making this new initiative a success for New York," says Chair Janno Lieber. "And I think we’re ready.”
While congestion pricing does have some champions in the city, the toll has faced several legal challenges from lawmakers and drivers outside the Big Apple. Among its detractors is President-elect Trump, who has promised to end the toll once he takes office on January 20.
Getting here was decades in the making. Lawmakers have been looking at how to decongest Manhattan as far back as the 1970s. New York lawmakers approved congestion pricing in their 2019 state budget, but the $15 toll plan that emerged from that drew immediate criticism. New Jersey filed a lawsuit claiming congestion pricing would increase pollution in suburban communities, as drivers seek to avoid the toll. A coalition of Hudson Valley lawmakers joined a lawsuit by the United Federation of Teachers arguing the same.
State Senator James Skoufis, a Democrat from the 42nd District, specifically argued the toll was unfair to commuters west of the Hudson River, who don’t have a direct train line into Manhattan.
“It’s a slap in the face. We have a single train line in Orange County that brings people very, very sporadically into New Jersey," said Skoufis. "There is no viable public transit alternative if you’re trying to nudge people out of their cars with this toll.”
Orange and Rockland Counties contribute less than 2 percent of the 1.2 million commuters to lower Manhattan according to the MTA.
Before a judge could rule on the lawsuits — and just weeks before the toll was set to take effect — New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced she was indefinitely pausing the plan.
“Let’s be real, a $15 charge may not seem like a lot to someone who has the means. But it can break the budget of a hard-working or middle-class household," Hochul said in June.
The Democrat's pause spawned its own lawsuits from supporters of the toll. But it didn’t last long: after November’s election, Hochul revived the cheaper, $9 version of the toll that launched Sunday. It earned quick approval from the MTA and the Federal Highway Administration, and the lawsuits opposing the plan floundered in court. As part of his ruling last week, a federal judge in New Jersey ordered the FHA to provide more information about efforts to mitigate pollution in suburban areas. The state of New Jersey saw it as a win and asked to block the plan with a temporary restraining order as a result, but was unsuccessful.
Rockland County Executive Ed Day, who filed his own lawsuit against the plan, says he’s disappointed by the news, but not surprised. He says his attorneys are still looking at legal options.
“We have been the redheaded stepchild of the MTA region for years, and it’s just not right," he notes.
In a statement, fellow Republican state Senator Rob Rolison decried the launch of congestion pricing as "an attempt to improve the MTA's finances on the backs of Hudson Valley residents.”
On Sunday, Hochul announced her plan to buoy transit in the Hudson Valley as part of her upcoming State of the State address. Hochul wants to shorten trip times on the Hudson line of the Metro-North Railroad by adding a second track at Spuyten Duyvil, and by increasing capacity at Poughkeepsie Yard. West of the Hudson, she proposed a study to look into how the MTA can improve service there.
MTA Chair Lieber, meanwhile, had his own message for those who are disappointed:
“The point is to make the city better for everybody," he says. "We need to make it easier for people who choose to drive or who have the drive to get around the city, to spend less time in traffic.”
Under the MTA’s current plan, the standard weekday toll for drivers will increase to $12 in 2028 and $15 in 2031. There are partial crossing credits for those using the four tunnels into Manhattan, and the MTA has a discount plan for low-income drivers who frequent the business district.
