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43K fewer drivers on Manhattan roads after congestion pricing turned on, MTA says
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Jan 13, 2025
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Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Jan 13, 2025
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The launch of congestion pricing led to some 43,000 fewer drivers on average entering Manhattan below 60th Street each weekday last week than would be typical for that time of January, according to data released by the MTA on Monday. The data comes just over a week after the tolls went live.
The decline in traffic only amounts to a 7.5% reduction compared to projections based on Januarys from the last few years, before congestion pricing was activated. Under the projections, an average of 583,000 drivers would enter the toll zone each day. But such a reduction, many people in Manhattan have observed, can be the difference between flowing traffic and gridlock.
“It has been a very good week here in New York,” MTA deputy chief Juliette Michaelson said at a news conference. She cautioned that congestion pricing had only been in effect for eight days and that traffic patterns could change.
Traffic times on all inbound crossings — like the Williamsburg Bridge and the Holland Tunnel — have decreased between 30% to 40% on average, particularly during the morning commute, according to the MTA’s data.
Bus speeds also increased after the tolls were turned on. The Manhattan-bound B39 bus, which crosses the Williamsburg Bridge, ran 28% faster compared to a similar January week last year. Other buses like the SIM24 and and the M50 saw increases in speeds, as well.
As for ridership on the MTA’s buses, Michaelson said that some express buses including the BM1, QM16, BM4 and SIM9 saw higher than average ridership growth last week, but did not specify by how much.
The same data shows that speeds traveling north and south on avenues in the toll zone south of 60th Street didn’t change significantly.
The MTA turned on the toll cameras on Jan. 5, charging most drivers a daytime $9 fee to enter the zone.
The MTA is using the revenue from the congestion pricing tolls to issue a $15 billion bond to buy new train cars, install accessible elevators at subway stations across the city and other transit infrastructure improvements.
Michaelson said the MTA has not looked at the total revenue generated from the tolls in the first week of the program. The MTA estimates it can collect $500 million through congestion pricing every year.
Congressional Republicans from New York have vowed to kill the tolls and said they have President-elect Donald Trump’s support.
But transit advocates said the first week of data showed congestion pricing is working.
"Drivers are saving tons of time. Buses are finally speeding up, especially express buses full of long distance commuters from across New York and New Jersey,” Riders Alliance spokesperson Danny Pearlstein wrote in a statement. "With such immediate success, politicians trying to end the program for personal gain must tell us why they want to lengthen millions of commutes, block tens of thousands of infrastructure jobs, and cut home values throughout the city and suburbs."
Stephen Nessen contributed reporting.
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transportation
Ramsey Khalifeh
Ramsey Khalifeh is a transportation reporter on the NYC Accountability desk covering the largest transit system in the country. He was previously a general assignment reporter at Gothamist and worked on the Boston Globe's metro and copy desk. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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