Why NYC’s congestion pricing plan is stuck in traffic

In 2019, New York State passed the nation’s first-ever central business district traffic congestion plan for New York City. Vehicles entering Manhattan below 60th Street were to be assessed as much as $15 during peak hours.

People who lived inside the district and those with incomes under $60,000 were eligible for tax credits, and vehicles carrying disabled individuals were exempt. In addition to providing relief to America’s most congested city, the plan was designed to provide the Metropolitan Transportation Authority $1 billion a year to renovate and repair New York’s subways and buses.

The pandemic delayed the implementation of congestion pricing. In spring 2023, it was estimated that the tolls would reduce the number of cars and trucks entering the central business district by 15 to 20 percent (110,000 to 143,000 vehicles). After pointing out that they would also reduce air pollution, provide the MTA with much-needed funds and reduce travel time for commuters, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) declared that congestion pricing policies would be put into effect in about a year.

But on June 5, a few weeks before congestion pricing was set to start, Hochul — an unpopular governor without much political capital — put the plan on an indefinite pause. The proposal, she indicated, “has too many unintended consequences.” And the additional costs “would make residents rethink living or working here altogether.”

Hochul’s about-face shocked supporters of congestion pricing. The decision endangered the MTA’s planned extension of the Second Avenue subway in Manhattan and other renovations. Any change in the plan — such as reducing the $15 price tag or adopting a more gradual approach that begins with a toll on commercial trucks and tourist buses — required action by the state legislature, which is not scheduled to meet until January 2025.

Hochul didn’t mention what were almost certainly her real reasons: 72 percent of suburban New Yorkers oppose the plan; eight lawsuits have been filed against it; and Democrats representing commuters in the tristate area worry that the issue may cost them their seats in November.

New York’s congestion pricing plan, then, is a textbook example of the perennial conflict between good policies and good politics, pitting long-term gains against short-term financial and political costs — and all too often resulting in the delay, dilution or defeat of reform measures.

That said, it’s worth noting that congestion pricing works. In 1975, Singapore imposed a flat fee on vehicles entering its central business district. The toll resulted in a 43 percent reduction in traffic. Over time, legislators extended the area subject to the fee. A device has recently been installed in each vehicle calculating charges on the basis of distance traveled within the designated zone. With Singapore offering its citizens a first-rate public transportation system as an alternative to private vehicles, the state has set a goal of 90 percent peak period “Walk-Cycle-Ride mode share” by 2040.

London’s Congestion Charging Program, launched at the beginning of the 21st century, was accompanied by substantial investments in public transportation and the conversion of car lanes to walkways and bike lanes. By 2003, 70,000 fewer cars were entering the designated zone per day, and the time it took to make a trip went down by 30 percent. More recently, mini-cabs and Ubers, which had been exempt from the tolls, have clogged downtown London again, a reminder that these programs are always works in progress. That said, far fewer private cars entered London’s congested areas in 2023 than in 2003. And air pollution in the expanded “Ultra Low Emission Zone” has declined dramatically.

Stockholm’s congestion pricing initiative — launched as a pilot program in 2006, despite opposition from two-thirds of residents — resulted in a 30 to 50 percent reduction in traffic in the designated areas. In 2007, a referendum to make the program permanent was supported by two-thirds of voters. During the next decade, while the population of Stockholm increased by 10 percent, traffic levels went down by 22 percent, and air pollution continued to decline.

The battle for congestion pricing may not be over. But despite its impressive track record, it is difficult to be optimistic. And, for what it’s worth, former President Trump — who knows how to pile on, especially with unpopular policies over which he will have no authority — recently proclaimed that, if elected, he would terminate congestion pricing during his first week in office.

Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Emeritus Professor of American Studies at Cornell University.