Never one to shy away from the big moment, New York City is kicking off 2025 with bold action to curb the traffic in its streets: congestion pricing.
It’s been over a week since New York City began its congestion pricing policy on Jan. 5 — officially called the Central Business District (CBD) Tolling Program — which charges a daily toll to vehicles entering the “Congestion Relief Zone” below 60th Street in Manhattan.
The full toll is in effect during “peak hours” from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends; outside of those peak hours, the charge is reduced 75 percent.
The daily charge into the zone during peak hours, with an E-ZPass, is $9 for cars and $4.50 for motorcycles. The charge for trucks and buses is between $14.40 to $21.60 — per trip. Without an E-ZPass; all vehicles could pay up to 50 percent more during those peak hours.
New York cited “reduced traffic, cleaner air, safer streets, lower emissions and more revenue for public transit improvements” as motivations behind the move.
The policy comes with a 50 percent discount for low-income vehicle owners enrolled in the Low-Income Discount Plan (LIDP), according to the city, along with disability exemptions, crossing credits and low-income tax credit for residents of the Congestion Relief Zone. The city also stated that “drivers who stay exclusively on the FDR Drive, West Side Highway/Route 9A, or Hugh L. Carey Tunnel connections to West Street will not be charged a toll.”
So far, at least on paper, the policy is working as designed. In a Week One Update released by the city’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the agency found a nearly 7.5 percent reduction in traffic since the program launch.
It also said that drivers headed to the CBD and driving within the CBD are saving time due to the lighter traffic, both in personal vehicles and in buses. The update touted B39 CBD-inbound trips saving an average of 3.9 minutes compared to their runtime this time last year — a 28 percent reduction in travel time, according to the MTA.
Of any place in the country to attempt the policy, New York is one of the few where this could be feasibly attempted. Walking and public transit are ingrained in the fabric of the city like no other place in the country, with an extensive subway and bus system and some of the highest walkability in the U.S.
The city has shown commitment to pedestrianism in the past. The iconic Times Square, once intersected with traffic like the rest of the city, began the process of becoming a car-free zone in 2009 and completed its transformation in 2016 — a move that has generally been popular.
Further, the MTA shared that even prior to the new policy, only about 11 percent of commuters to the CBD (about 143,000 people) chose driving as their method of transportation, with around 87 percent (1.3 million people) other commuters into the district already using public transportation. That would also mean about 57,000 people who work in the CBD live in the the district and are therefore unaffected by a work commute.
Still, the new policy has garnered mixed reactions, to put it lightly. Some are thrilled by the quieter, safer and less crowded streets that the policy has brought — not to mention the projected revenue of $500 million for the first three years that the poll will bring in for investments in public transit.
Others are annoyed that one of the most expensive cities in the world is now imposing what feels like yet another tax simply to move around in a private vehicle — especially with recent discourse about the safety of public transit in the city despite it statistically being safe. Further, some are worried the policy just adds another burden to poorer individuals.
Below are a few tweets around the topic, showing the range of opinions:
congestion pricing is a policy miracle pic.twitter.com/dR7ME4iSeN— sam (@sam_d_1995) January 14, 2025
Congestion pricing was stonewalled, hogtied, delayed and shivved and yet, it has been one of the most effective transportation policies in 50 years. People respond to incentives. It should have been $25. https://t.co/tDFEh5Mz00— big_pedestrian (@big_pedestrian) January 13, 2025
“NYC is a ghost town, think of all the businesses that will suffer”
Yeah, all those customers stuck in gridlock that can’t now pull over in open parking spots and shop lol. Must be devastating for business.— Yags (@yaghsizian) January 12, 2025
No it’s not effective if you’ve just denied access to most ppl. That’s actually a failure.— sh (@DevDemi1) January 13, 2025
Congratulations on taxing poor people off the road. Very progressive.— Spanish Dominican king 🤴🏻 (@NjPier) January 9, 2025
The congestion pricing in New York City is the latest entry from large cities that have decided to push back against prioritizing cars and traffic. Paris, France has gained spotlight in the last few years for the relatively rapid culture change it underwent towards becoming a biker’s paradise, supported by the government through its initiatives and complete with a 2021-2026 cycling plan.
Other cities, too, have already had congestion pricing policies in place for some time like London and Singapore.
Bogotá, Colombia is a trailblazer in the movement against traffic, too, albeit in a different manner. The city employs a policy called Pico y Placa, where only certain cars — depending on the license plate number — are permitted on the roads depending on the day in an effort to curb traffic. It is also in the middle of building a metro train system to further alleviate traffic and invest in public transportation.
Whatever form it takes, cities with major traffic problems have been and continue to try and address the issue through public policy. This latest by New York City is a dream study for economists and urban planners alike, to be studied for years — both the effects inside the district, and its effect on the areas around it.
Is the new Congestion Relief Zone a pedestrians paradise? A commuter’s nightmare? Time will tell, though it largely depends on who you ask.
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