It Will Soon Cost You $15 To Enter Manhattan, Starting in June

By FrumNews.com

New York City will toll those commuters through lower and midtown Manhatten.

Based on similar congestion pricing schemes in major cities like London, Stockholm and Singapore, the plan is to reduce congestion on Manhattan’s busy streets by tolling drivers who enter the Central Business District (lower and Midtown Manhattan below 60th Street).

The plan is set for June 15, 2024.

On Wednesday, the MTA’s board of directors set the toll rate for congestion pricing at $15.

According to recently released rates, cars and small commercial vehicles (sedans, SUVs, pick-up trucks, and small vans) paying with E-ZPass will be charged $15 during the day and $3.75 at night. Drivers will be charged no more than once a day.

Larger vehicles will pay more: Trucks and some buses will be charged a toll of $24 or $36 during the day to enter the zone, depending on their size and function, and $6 or $9 at night. Taxis and black car passengers will pay a $1.25 toll for every trip to, from, within or through the zone. Customers of app-based for-hire vehicles (e.g. Uber Lyft or Revel) will pay $2.50.

Drivers going on the FDR Drive and West Side Highway would not be charged a toll yet…. Low-income vehicle owners will receive a 50% discount, and low-income residents of the Central Business District will receive a tax credit. Qualifying authorized emergency vehicles and qualifying vehicles carrying people with disabilities will be exempt. Exemptions can be found here.

MTA board member David Jones celebrated the approval, saying, “Funding the infrastructure of the subway, buses, and commuter rail while at the same time reducing congestion for all New Yorkers and helping to clean the air, this is a trifecta we think is critically important.”

Governor Kathy Hochul, who oversees the MTA, praised congestion pricing, saying in December that it would mean “cleaner air, better transit and less gridlock on New York City’s streets and today’s vote by the MTA Board is a critical step forward. The proposal approved today heeds my call to lower the toll rate by nearly 35 percent from the maximum rate originally considered. This initiative will make New York City a global leader in transportation policy, and I’m grateful for the work of the Traffic Mobility Review Board to bring us to this milestone.”

Opponents of the plan slammed the controversial plan, which would be the first in the USA and can lead to other progressive left cities like Boston or Washington, DC implementing these programs. They claim it takes money from those driving directly to public transit.

On the opposite side of the Hudson River, NJ Governor Phil Murphy is fighting the MTA in court over the plan. The Governor is arguing that congestion pricing should be blocked because it will result in more traffic and pollution in New Jersey.

“This is far from over and we will continue to fight this blatant cash grab. The MTA’s actions today are further proof that they are determined to violate the law in order to balance their budget on the backs of New Jersey commuters.” Gov. Murphy said in a statement, “We will continue to avail ourselves of every option in order to protect residents on this side of the Hudson from an unfair tolling scheme that discriminates against New Jerseyans, especially lower and middle-income drivers.”

The NYC Council’s Bipartisan Common-Sense Caucus, which includes Frum Boro Park councilmember Kalman Yeger, and Frum Flatbush councilmember Inna Vernikov issued a statement attacking the bill, “Congestion has been a fait accompli ever since New York State Legislature approved the Manhattan Central Business Tolling Program five years ago, so we fully expected the MTA Board to rubber this multi-billion-dollar tax on hardworking New Yorker’s today Under this scheme, our constituents, who have the misfortune of living in communities that don’t have adequate public transit options, will now be paying exorbitant fees for transit improvements in communities that already do. At the very least. our overlords could have been truthful about this rather than pretending it’s all about helping the common folk commute.”

They added, “We will continue fighting congestion pricing in the courts, but this is a very sad day for New York City.”

Many FrumNews.com readers pointed out that if New York City actually wants its residents to use Public Transit, all it has to do is enable law and order in the MTA transit system.

As one Williamsburg reader told FrumNews.com, “The far-left progressives in this City are handcuffing the police department, by allowing the emotionality disturbed and violent individuals to freely roam the NYC Subway system en-mass, this means that the MTA, Mayor, Governor, State Legislators, Councilmembers and elected officials are not serious, they care more about obsessively taxing everyday New Yorker’s, because if they would clean up the subway system, charge and hold the criminals responsible, there would be more riders using public transportation on it’s own.

Most New Yorker’s don’t want to drive into Manhattan, but the subway is a cesspool of crime, those that can avoid the subway avoid it for this very reason”