- New York City’s congestion pricing created $48.6 million in revenue in January, exceeding expectations. But the White House is taking steps to kill the rule.
- Roughly 20% of the revenue collected comes from taxis and other for-hire vehicles. Passenger cars, trucks and other vehicles make up the rest.
- The Trump administration called congestion pricing a “slap in the face to working-class Americans and small business owners.”
Full Story
New York’s congestion pricing program generated $48.6 million in January, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced Monday, Feb. 24. But the controversial policy intended to reduce traffic has been declared “dead” by the Trump administration.
The toll charges most vehicles $9 during peak hours driving south of 60th Street in Manhattan. It took effect on Jan. 5, and brought in $48.6 million from tolls through the end of the month. The MTA expects the toll to generate $40 million per month in revenue or nearly $500 million per year.
The MTA said street traffic south of 60th Street is also subsiding. They’ve seen a 10% drop on Manhattan’s streets and an uptick in public transit ridership. So far, roughly 20% of the revenue collected comes from taxis and other for-hire vehicles. Passenger cars, trucks and other vehicles make up the rest.
Point phone camera here
The Trump admin wants to kill the toll
The MTA is releasing the first month’s data as the program faces extinction from the Trump administration. During the week of Feb. 17, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said his agency would revoke federal authorization that previously allowed the MTA to charge drivers.
“I think there’s a lot of great ideas around congestion pricing and how we can reduce it,” Duffy told CBS News. “But you can’t take American taxpayers, who paid for roads, and block them out and say you can’t access this unless you pay additional money.”
Shortly after the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced its intention to end the program, the White House reposted a Truth Social post from President Donald Trump.
"CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!"
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 19, 2025
–President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/IMr4tq0sMB
“CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD,” the White House post read. “Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!”
How New York is fighting to save congestion pricing
Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who was instrumental in implementing congestion pricing, criticized the message from the president.
“New York hasn’t labored under a king in over 250 years,” Hochul said Wednesday, Feb. 19. “We sure as hell are not going to start now. The streets of the city where battles were fought, we stood up to a king, and we won then, and in case you don’t know New Yorkers, we’re in a fight. We do not back down, not now, not ever.”
The MTA immediately filed suit to stop the DOT from eliminating authorization. They said they will continue collecting tolls in the meantime.
“We had a 50-page complaint ready to go, and we hit the button to file it about three minutes after at least the official release of the Secretary Duffy’s letter purportedly terminating the program,” MTA chair and CEO Janno Lieber told NY1 Wednesday, Feb. 19.
The MTA argued that the federal government can’t unilaterally terminate a program that is already underway.
Duffy said the state and governor didn’t take proper steps before collecting tolls.
“She never did a study to say, ‘I really care about congestion. I want to reduce congestion. So I’m going to look at how much money should I charge in a toll, and how much will that reduce congestion,’” Duffy told CBS News. “That analysis was never done. So, instead of paying $9, could someone pay $5 and reduce congestion, or $3 to reduce congestion? She didn’t do that.”
“We studied, 4,000 pages, [over] four years of study,” Lieber told NY1. “We studied all different ranges of tolls, and contrary to what you just heard, we actually analyze the relationship between specific tolling amounts and reductions in congestion.”
Lieber said the dollar amounts Duffy proposed would not have made a meaningful dent in Manhattan’s congestion.
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Behind the controversial program
New York lawmakers approved the tolling plan in 2019. But the plan has always been divisive. Gov. Phil Murphy, D-N.J., fought it on the legal side and asked the Trump administration to step in. Suburban commuters oppose the toll, saying they’re not well served by public transit.
New York intends to use the money raised by congestion pricing to finance infrastructure upgrades to the MTA. The agency expects it will raise $500 million a year, and after that period the state plans to sell bonds to raise the $15 billion needed for upgrades.
Hochul met with Trump during the week of Feb. 17 to defend congestion prices. She indicated he wasn’t moved. The Trump administration contends the toll is a “slap in the face to working-class Americans and small business owners” dependent on that traffic.
Tags: cars, congestion, congestion pricing, Donald Trump, Kathy Hochul, Manhattan, MTA, New York, New York City, Sean Duffy, toll, Traffic safety
[MTA CEO Janno Lieber]
We got to be honest with ourselves, New Yorkers are not going to change their behavior overnight.
[Simone Del Rosario]
New Yorkers may not have changed overnight. But the city’s controversial congestion pricing is already reaping financial benefits. That’s despite the White House’s declaration the program is dead.
The toll charges most vehicles $9 during peak hours to drive south of 60th Street in Manhattan. Think: everything below Central Park.
It took effect on January 5. On Monday, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said that for the rest of January, they raked in $48.6 million from the toll. That exceeds MTA’s financial expectations of $40 million per month.
MTA says street traffic south of 60th is also subsiding. They’ve seen a 10% drop on Manhattan’s streets and an uptick in public transit ridership.
New York is releasing this data as the first-of-its-kind-in-America congestion toll already faces extinction.
Last week, newly-minted Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said his agency would revoke federal authorization that previously allowed the MTA to charge drivers.
[Sean Duffy]
I think there’s a lot of great ideas around congestion pricing and how we can reduce it. But you can’t take American taxpayers, who paid for roads, and block them out and say you can’t access this unless you pay additional money.
[Simone Del Rosario]
Shortly after DOT announced its intention to end the program, the White House reposted a Truth Social post from President Donald Trump: “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!”
It didn’t go over well with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who was instrumental in implementing the program.
[Kathy Hochul]
New York hasn’t labored under a king in over 250 years. We are not, we sure as hell are not going to start now. The streets of the city where battles were fought, we stood up to a king and we won then, and in case you don’t know New Yorkers, we’re in a fight. We do not back down, not now, not ever.”
[Simone Del Rosario]
The MTA immediately filed suit to stop Duffy from eliminating authorization. They said they will continue collecting tolls in the meantime.
[Janno Lieber]
We had a 50 page complaint ready to go, and we hit the button to file it about three minutes after at least the official release of the Secretary Duffy’s letter purportedly terminating the program.
Simone Del Rosario]
The MTA argues the federal government can’t unilaterally terminate a program that’s already underway.
Secretary Duffy says the state and governor didn’t take proper steps before collecting tolls.
Sean Duffy]
She never did a study to say, I really care about congestion. I want to reduce congestion. So I’m going to look at how much money should I charge in a toll, and how much will that reduce congestion? That analysis was never done. So instead of paying $9 could someone pay $5 and reduce congestion, or $3 to reduce congestion? She didn’t do that.
[Janno Lieber]
We studied that 4000 pages, four years of study. We studied all different ranges of tolls, and contrary to what you just heard, we actually analyze the relationship between specific tolling amounts and reductions in congestion.
[Simone Del Rosario]
New York lawmakers approved the tolling plan in 2019. But the plan has always been divisive. And not even along party lines. New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy fought it on the legal side and asked the Trump administration to step in. Suburban commuters oppose the toll, saying they’re not well-served by public transit.
New York intends to use the money raised by congestion pricing to finance infrastructure upgrades to the MTA. The agency expects it’ll raise $500 million a year and after about a year, the state plans to sell bonds to raise the $15 billion needed for upgrades.
Gov. Hochul met with Trump last week to defend congestion prices. She indicated he wasn’t moved. The Trump administration contends the toll is a “slap in the face to working-class Americans and small business owners” dependent on that traffic.
So far, about 20% of the revenue collected comes from taxis and other for-hire vehicles. Passenger cars, trucks and other vehicles make up the rest.
For Straight Arrow News, I’m Simone Del Rosario.
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