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MTA Kicks Off First Round Of Public Meetings On Congestion Pricing

By

Stephen Nessen

Published Sep 22, 2021

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A view from a building of the packed street full of vehicles, with buildings on either side

 

Ted Shaffrey/AP/Shutterstock

By

Stephen Nessen

Published Sep 22, 2021

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This week, the MTA begins a series of 10 virtual meetings on its plans to charge drivers who enter Manhattan below 60th Street. The federally mandated public outreach for congestion pricing is both an opportunity for members of the public to hear directly from the MTA about how their community may be impacted by the tolling, and a chance for the public to tell the MTA how they feel about the plans.

The MTA hasn’t said how much it will charge drivers, and whether any groups will be exempted from the tolls. Those things will be decided by a yet-to-be created group at the MTA known as the Traffic Mobility Review Board.

In the bill signed by Governor Cuomo, drivers that stay on the West Side Highway and FDR Drive won't be charged, as well as emergency vehicles and those transporting disabled passengers. Manhattan residents who earn less than $60,000 a year would receive a tax credit, but would still have to pay the toll. 

Are you reading these signs?

Kate Hinds / Gothamist

The public outreach is one part in a process, which includes an environmental review, that is expected to take 16 months, a timeline the MTA called aggressive. Mayor Bill de Blasio said it’s too long.

Still, the MTA has many studies and models for how the tolling program could reduce traffic and pollution which it will present at these meetings. Each one will focus on a different region, including parts of New Jersey and Connecticut. When the meetings are over, the MTA will submit a report to federal officials for final approval, which includes feedback from the public.

Already, the agency has received hundreds of public comments on the website.

“By and large, there’ve been positive,” Allison L. C. de Cerreño, Deputy Chief Operating Officer at the MTA, said at least week’s board meeting. “We will be looking at them and how the program potentially either already addresses it or may need to address it.”

The tolling program, which was expected to go into effect earlier this year, is expected to generate $1 billion a year in revenue for the MTA. The agency is expected to spend 80% of it for subway improvements and 20% for the commuter railroads.

Nicole Gelinas with the Manhattan Institute argues the MTA has plenty of money from dedicated taxes, and warns this money shouldn’t be used to plug deficit holes. The agency’s interim Chairman, Janno Lieber, confirmed to the MTA board that despite the delay in implementing congestion pricing, the agency has enough money for the current capital projects.

While the program is partly meant to fund transit projects, if properly executed, it’s also designed to reduce traffic.

“Congestion makes our air quality bad, it makes it unsafe to get around, it leads to more traffic crashes, and it hurts our economic viability,” Kate Slevin, executive vice president of the Regional Plan Association, said. 

Charles Komanoff,a transit economist, created a way to calculate the costs and benefits of various tolling schemes, which the state officials used to help pass congestion pricing. Komanoff said if the MTA expects to raise $1 billion a year, it would need to charge drivers $7 to $10, which he said is still a bargain. 

“We won’t be charging anywhere near the full congestion cost that that driver is imposing on everybody else trying to use the streets at that moment,” Komanoff said.

He calculated that the actual cost of driving into Manhattan, including the time delays one vehicle creates, is between $50-$100.

New Jersey lawmakers are already threatening to start charging New York drivers if they’re charged to cross the bridge and tunnels and then again to drive in Manhattan. New Jersey congressman Josh Gottheimer called the program a “sick joke.”

Whatever the final price, it’s not expected to go into effect by 2023. And still, the next governor could kill the plan entirely. 

Here's the schedule for the MTA's 10 general interest public meetings—all held virtually—that cover New York City and surrounding region; the MTA says "anyone from any area can participate in any meeting." Those who wish to speak at the hearings must register by calling Public Meeting Hotline at (646) 252-6777.

The hearings will be live-streamed here. (You can find more info about signing up to speak and other details here.)

This story has been updated to reflect that Rep. Josh Gottheimer's first name is Josh, not Scott.

Tagged

we the commuters

traffic

MTA

congestion pricing

new york city

manhattan

bus

subway

Stephen Nessen

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Stephen Nessen covers transportation. Since 2008 he has reported on everything from Occupy Wall Street, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Hurricane Sandy, to Trump’s campaign for president. His transportation reporting has taken him everywhere from the MTA’s secret Rail Control Center to the gleaming subways of Seoul. Got a tip? Email [email protected].

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