America's Talking - New York’s Congestion Pricing Toll System Gets Underway

Episode Date: January 11, 2025

(The Center Square) — The nation's first congestion pricing system got underway in New York over the weekend after a last-ditch legal challenge failed to block the controversial new tolling program. New York’s new toll for drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street began just after midnight on Sunday after a U.S. District Court judge late Friday denied New Jersey’s push to keep the plan from going into effect. Under the program, passenger cars will pay a $9 toll between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekdays and between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekends. New York officials say the toll will reduce tailpipe pollution and provide more funding for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the public transit system. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome to America in Focus powered by the Center Square. I'm Dan McAulip, Chief Content Officer at Franklin News Foundation, publisher of the Center Square Newswire service. New York's controversial new congestion pricing system is now underway in the Big Apple. Commuters entering Manhattan below 60th Street will pay inflated tolls and what officials say they hope will reduce tailpipe emissions. But the new tolls have its fair share of critics. Joining me to discuss this today is Sarah Roderick Fitch, regional editor for the Center Square.

Sarah, explain to our listeners what this congestion pricing scheme is all about. Well, it has actually been in talks for several years now, going back multiple mayoral administrations in New York. And it was actually, so it was planned to go ahead with it. And then in June, Governor Kathy Hochel put a project. pause on it, which at the time, a lot of people were, which it seems pretty clear, it was sort for political purposes because it was very unpopular, unpopular with a lot of Republicans in districts surrounding New York and Long Island. There were some competitive districts there. So it was put on hold at the time. And then right after the election, then it was lifted. But

it was initially, I think it was going to be $15 and then she lowered it to $9. However, it is going to go up incrementally. I think by 2031, it'll be $15, kind of the base of it for cars. And this is during peak. These are peak times. I believe it's 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. during weekdays and weeknights. And there's certain breaks and whatnot in place. you know, for people low income and how much you travel it. But it had also, not just Republicans

were outraged by this, but there was a lot of democratic pushback, including New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy. New Jersey had tried multiple lawsuits. They were against it. So their lawmakers were very much against it. There were some other Democrats in New York that were against it. But ultimately, really what the problem is, and where they're stemming from, is low ridership with MTA within Manhattan's, their transportation authority. And actually, it's metropolitan transportation authority. Anyway, they have about a $33 billion budget gap that they need to them. And that's kind of where a lot of that's come. That's where that money is coming from. And low ridership and all of these, they need upgrades and whatnot for not just a subway system,

but also busing and whatnot. And so this is sort of expected to bring in, I think, around. They're hoping to bring in about $15 billion to sort of close it. In addition, they're trying to increased ridership because they're trying to put people back and, you know, pushing them back into the, you know, subway and bus systems, which there has been a little bit of an uptick since it, since it took place. So, yeah, so there's, there's a couple reasons why it's, um, it's not just about congestion and emissions. It's, it's a bit of a money grab. Yes, it's definitely, it's definitely, um, certainly a money grab. And they really haven't, I mean, that really honestly hasn't been,

they haven't been hiding that fact, really. They made it very clear that this is one of the reasons why they need it. Of course, one of the reasons to say is, oh, well, because environmental reasons, tailpipe congestion and, you know, tailpipe emissions and whatnot. But really,

it's, the main reason is money, obviously. So commuters entering Manhattan for the right to get to Manhattan, whether it's for a job, for a tourist, tourists who are just, you know, visiting, you have to pay $9 every single time you enter Manhattan. You mentioned New Jersey's governor legally challenging it.

I can't imagine these commuters, you know, whether you're coming in from New Jersey or Maryland or Connecticut or what have you. They're very happy about it, particularly if you work, you know, if you live in one of those regions and you work in Manhattan, you've got to go to work every single day. That's $9 a day. That's like nearly $50 a week. Yes, yes. And it is, and that's just sort of the, that's, that's the sort of the starting point. You know, you know, if you're, let's say you're a business, you have a business and you have, you know, you have a truck.

You know, you need to, you know, take supplies in or whatever each day. You're going to be paying up to, you know, $21 going in. So, I mean, it, it hurts, it hurts a lot of places because, you know, there's, you've got ports and whatnot, you know, especially on Jersey side that, you know, you have to, you have to bring stuff in, you know, into Manhattan. You have to import stuff. So yeah, it does hurt them. But also, another fact where there's a lot of, there's been pushed back too is with, within writers, not just the expense of it. But now it's sort of pushing people, okay, to ride the subways. And there's, there's,

right? Yes. No problem with New York subway stations. Subway stations just a few weeks ago, a woman was tragically burned to death, burned alive on one of a subway cars there. And there's video of it, and even one of the police officers just kind of walked by. I mean, it was, it's, there's been several issues in that same time frame. A gentleman was just standing there and he was pushed onto the tracks. Miraculously, actually ended up surviving.

But these are things that have been happening on the subway, not to mention that case, you know, with where that choke called, you know, Daniel, I think it was Daniel Penny, you know, there's been so many instances of violence and then, you know, with homelessness and everything else in the subways that that has been a major issue. And so Republicans, some of the critics have brought that up too, is saying, well, you've got to make the subway safer. So people are not happy about that as well as they just not feeling safer. Although Governor Kathy Hokel and Eric Adams maintain that crime is going down, it's safer.

But I think it's really difficult to, you know, calm sort of some of these concerns because of these instances that have happened. I mean, they've been so publicized and, you know, that's really frightening. So when you hear, especially you have tourists that are coming in or, you know, maybe they may not want to ride the subway because of that. It's so anyway, yeah, it's been a very, it's been very challenging trying to sell this, I think, with people. And President Elect Trump has been, he has been very much against it. And he is saying that he's going to, when he gets into office, that he is going to try to nix the whole plan. I'm not exactly sure how he can do that.

But this was approved through the Department of Transportation. So perhaps there is, perhaps he can, you know, have some leeway with that. But we'll see if, you know, we'll see if he's successful in doing that as they move. Sarah, thank you for joining us today. Listeners can keep up with this story and more at thecenter square.com.