New York Congestion Pricing Approved by MTA Board

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board voted to approve rates for the city’s congestion pricing program, setting the stage for the first such program in the country. “Revenues from the congestion pricing program are expected to allow the transit agency to secure about $15 billion in bonds to support its capital investment program.”

As Dan Zukowski explains in Smart Cities Dive, “Under the plan approved today, passenger vehicles and small commercial vehicles using an E-ZPass tag will be charged $15 from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends. At night, the fee will drop to $3.75. Vehicles will only be charged once per day, and those without an E-ZPass tag will face tolls that are about 50% higher.”

Funding from the program is considered essential to making MTA subway stations more accessible and improving transit service in the city. “Revenues from the congestion pricing program are expected to allow the transit agency to secure about $15 billion in bonds to support its capital investment program.”

Zukowski points out that the MTA still needs to resolve multiple lawsuits before the program can go forward.