NYC Congestion Pricing May Be Saving Lives

According to preliminary data, crashes and injuries dropped dramatically within the city’s new congestion relief zone.

1 minute read

January 27, 2025, 5:00 AM PST

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


Pedestrians crossing a busy crosswalk on New York City street with tall buildings in background

Ryan DeBerardinis / Shutterstock

New York City’s new congestion pricing program is reducing congestion and also making streets safer, with data gathered by Streetsblog NYC indicating a 51 percent drop in crash-related injuries in the program’s first 12 days compared to the same time period the prior year. “According to just-updated city statistics, in the first 12 days of congestion pricing — Jan. 6 through Jan. 17, which includes 10 business days and one weekend — 37 people were injured in 90 total reported crashes, down from 76 injuries in 199 crashes over the same 12-day period in 2024.”

As Gersh Kuntzman explains, “It's obviously too early for officials to take a victory lap — a safe one, that is — but a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation said the agency was ‘pleased’ by Streetsblog's number-crunching, though added, ‘It’s too soon to draw conclusions.’”

Thursday, January 23, 2025 in StreetsBlog NYC

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