Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
MTA plans to raise NYC's congestion pricing toll to $15 in 2031
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Nov 17, 2024
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Nov 17, 2024
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The MTA plans to ramp up Manhattan’s congestion pricing tolls to $15 in 2031 — a sharp increase from the $9 charge Gov. Kathy Hochul announced last week, according to documents published by the transit agency.
The documents show the price of the base toll for passenger vehicles will grow to $12 in 2028. Hochul’s office last week acknowledged the prices would eventually increase — but did not specify an exact timeline.
“The governor has been very clear that she does not want it raised for at least three years, and then we will file, the MTA will file, what possible phase-in would look like up to $15,” director of New York state operations Kathryn Garcia said at a new conference last week unveiling the new plan.
The MTA cleared up what that phase-in would look like on Friday by publishing a resolution slated to be approved by the agency's board on Monday. The agreement allows the agency to officially sign off on the Jan. 5 launch of the $9 base toll — as well as the plan for the price increases down the road.
The board documents state the price increases are necessary so the tolls can fund $15 billion worth of MTA repairs and upgrades, which is required by state law.
The relaunch of congestion pricing came more than five months after Hochul abruptly put the tolling program on pause. The MTA previously planned to move forward with a $15 toll price for congestion pricing on June 30, but the governor pumped the brakes weeks ahead of the launch, saying the fee was too high for drivers at the time.
Hochul was quick to move on a new plan to revamp congestion pricing in the days following the presidential election, where Republicans won control of the White House and both chambers of Congress. President-elect Donald Trump vowed to kill the Manhattan tolls earlier this year — and the MTA’s planned start date for the charges is scheduled just 15 days before his inauguration.
Danny Pearlstein, spokesperson for the transit advocacy group Riders Alliance, said many drivers would be upset by any congestion pricing toll — no matter the price.
“Even a 50-cent toll would’ve sent some people through the roof, so there’s no getting around that,” Pearlstein. “But this is absolutely compromised from what came before and it’s significantly different for the MTA. The money will definitely roll in slower, the nudge to drivers to get off the road, to cancel or combine their trips, is definitely a lighter touch.”
Tagged
new york city
manhattan
transportation
Politics
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]
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .