With less than 48 hours before congestion pricing takes effect in New York City, its fate is still up in the air. If approved, however, drivers could pay as much as $9 to use certain Manhattan streets.
A judge in federal court heard arguments Friday, Jan. 3, in a case dividing leaders in New York and New Jersey. He said he would decide before the program’s scheduled start on Sunday morning, Jan. 5.
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If it takes effect, the plan will charge drivers $9 during peak hours and $2.50 off-peak to enter streets and avenues below 60th Street in Manhattan.
Highways looping the edges of Manhattan, including the West Side Highway, FDR Drive and Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, are exempt. And E-Z Pass users entering via certain bridges and tunnels will also receive up to $3 discounts.
In recent days, New York transit leaders at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and New Jersey political officials traded barbs. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., joined New Jersey officials in a media event Thursday, Jan. 2, near the New Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge into New York City.
“What about all of the effects on all the lungs here in northern New Jersey? Right? We know that’s going to happen because the MTA has admitted it’s going to happen,” Gottheimer said. “And yet, the MTA hasn’t provided a single solution to mitigate the cancer-causing effects on northern New Jersey. Nothing.”
The MTA issued a quick response, with spokesperson John McCarthy saying in a statement, “Nobody in their right mind should take transportation advice from the New Jersey politicians who have woefully failed to manage transit in their state while also endorsing higher tolls on their own roads and on Port Authority bridges and tunnels, and higher fares on NJ Transit.”
In response to public outcry and lawsuits, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul lowered the toll from $15 to $9 in November.
