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NYC car crashes have been declining. Congestion pricing accelerated the trend.
By
Joe Hong
Published May 5, 2025
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Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
By
Joe Hong
Published May 5, 2025
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Fewer drivers have gotten into crashes in Manhattan’s congestion pricing zone since the tolls went into effect, accelerating a citywide trend that’s reduced injuries and deaths of motorists, cyclists and pedestrians.
A Gothamist analysis of NYPD data found a total of 1,526 crashes in the congestion zone south of 60th Street between the toll’s launch on Jan. 5 and April 21. That marks a 13% reduction, or 218 fewer collisions, compared to the same period last year. The two-year decline was first reported by Streetsblog. But what’s even more striking is that the decrease is double the rate of change between 2023 and 2024. Congestion pricing appears to be accelerating a trend that was already underway, bringing the number of crashes nearly down to the historic lows that the city experienced during the pandemic.
“It makes sense that fewer vehicles, less gridlock and calmer traffic flow in the Congestion Relief Zone would lead to a decrease in crashes and injuries,” MTA spokesperson John McCarthy said. “These are exactly the type of benefits from congestion relief that more and more New Yorkers are experiencing and embracing.”
Congestion pricing charges passenger vehicles $9 to cross into Manhattan below 60th Street during peak hours. The zone does not include the West Side Highway or FDR Drive.
Crashes on bridges, tunnels and highways that flow into Manhattan’s congestion zone also plummeted by more than 26% this year after staying stable between 2023 and 2024.
But the accelerating decline isn’t limited to the congestion zone. Between 2022 and 2024, the total number of crashes across all five boroughs dropped each year by an average of 6.5%. Since the program began on Jan. 5 of this year, data shows a 15% drop in crashes across New York City.
In the years immediately before the pandemic, annual crash numbers lingered around 62,000. If the trend continues, the number of crashes for 2025 is set to be about 63% lower, or about 39,000 fewer crashes, than those pre-pandemic figures.
Fewer crashes means fewer people hurt. Across the city, crash-related injuries declined by 14% compared to the period between Jan. 5 and April 21 in 2024. That’s the first time in five years that the number of injuries during that same 15-week window has dropped. Between 2021 and 2022, injuries were up by 13%.
Since launching congestion pricing, the MTA has reported an array of other improvements to traffic and public transit speeds. Within the first few months of the program, the MTA estimated that an average of 82,000 fewer vehicles drove into the congestion zone every day. As a result, the agency’s data showed 4% faster bus rides and an 8% increase in subway ridership.
The program’s main goal, however, was not to improve traffic or reduce collisions but to raise money for the financially ailing MTA. The state law that mandated congestion pricing requires that the revenues from tolls cover $15 billion worth of repairs and upgrades for public transit. The MTA projected in March that congestion pricing would raise $500 million this year.
The MTA projects $500 million in revenue this year tied to congestion pricing tolls.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
The Trump administration has sought to kill the tolls — which it argues are an unfair tax on working-class drivers — by withdrawing their federal approval. President Donald Trump declared the program “dead” in February, but Gov. Kathy Hochul has kept the tolls on. A lawsuit between the MTA and federal transportation department is ongoing. Last week, federal attorneys accidentally published an internal memo highlighting critical weaknesses in the administration’s case.
Michael Replogle, a former deputy commissioner for the city’s Department of Transportation, told Gothamist that the positive trends in car crash and injury data support an expansion of the program. Currently, the toll is set to increase in 2028 to $12 and again in 2031 to $15, the amount originally planned for the 2025 launch.
Replogle said continuing to refine and broaden the program will amplify its financial, safety and environmental benefits. He referenced Singapore’s congestion pricing model, which enlarged the congestion zone over several years. London’s congestion pricing program also expanded and evolved over decades and has reduced crashes at a faster rate than the rest of Great Britain. Replogle said New York City’s congestion zone could similarly grow to cover more streets.
“There are other cities looking with great interest at what New York has been doing,” he said. “I think we’ll see congestion pricing be adopted by more cities around the country.”
Tagged
manhattan
transportation
Joe Hong
Joe Hong is the investigative data reporter for WNYC and Gothamist. He previously covered K-12 education for several newsrooms across California. His reporting has led to local reforms in juvenile justice system as well as a state law requiring universal screening for dyslexia. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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