After years of public input, delays from federal officials and multiple obstruction lawsuits, New York’s congestion pricing plan is ready. By the end of the month, sensors and cameras will be ready and waiting to charge most drivers a $15 toll into midtown Manhattan and below, money earmarked for New York’s transit system.
Today, Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed the plan.
Hochul said in a video that the New York state Legislature passed the congestion pricing bill in 2019, which “was enacted in the pre-pandemic period when employees were in offices five days a week, crime was at record lows, and the tourism industry It also hit a record high.” The policy was declared unexpectedly dead. Now, everything has changed for the worse in the city, and “the planned congestion pricing system is currently facing so many unintended consequences,” she said.
Technically, Hochul is suspending implementation of congestion pricing indefinitely. Supporters of the policy worry that if it can’t be implemented now, it will never be implemented later.
“I’m very frustrated that all of a sudden this is happening,” said Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan. “If we stop imposing congestion pricing now, we’ll never get there.” New York Times. City planners and transportation advocates were equally outraged by Hochul, calling her decision a “betrayal.”
Congestion pricing is fundamentally a good idea, using charges to manage traffic congestion throughout the day. Cities around the world use it to keep traffic flowing in their central business districts. Some places in the United States also have congested toll lanes, where drivers pay dynamic tolls to drive in clear lanes.
New York’s planned congestion pricing scheme falls short of the best-designed congestion pricing scheme. It would charge a fixed toll, limiting its effectiveness in actually reducing congestion.
The plan is also largely sold as a bailout for New York’s subway system, which helps alienate motorists who must pay tolls.
“They’re not leading with, ‘We’re going to stabilize traffic flow so that it benefits motorists,'” said Marc Scribner, a transportation policy researcher at the Reason Foundation, which publishes the site. reason last year.
Politicians from commuting communities across New York lined up to oppose the policy. The state of New Jersey and teachers unions sued to stop the practice.
Until yesterday, these opponents seemed unable to stop congestion charging. Now Hochul has done their work for them.
The money grab has now failed. New York’s traffic problems will remain.
