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Trump's bid to kill congestion tolls could send Staten Island bus riders back into gridlock
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Feb 21, 2025
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Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York City Transit
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Feb 21, 2025
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This column originally appeared in On The Way, a weekly newsletter covering everything you need to know about NYC-area transportation.
Sign up to get the full version, which includes answers to reader questions, trivia, service changes and more, in your inbox every Thursday.
U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a Staten Island Republican, was central in pushing President Donald Trump to revoke federal approval for congestion pricing.
She called it an unfair tax on her constituents and thanked the president on Wednesday for finding a way “to halt this cash grab.”
But Trump’s order — which still hinges on a federal judge’s decision — may claw precious time back from commuters in New York City’s only Republican-majority borough. I rode on a Staten Island express bus on Wednesday, hours before Trump took the first step toward killing congestion pricing, and spoke with many riders whose opinions about the tolls have shifted since they launched.
Lynne Rapino, who commutes from Todt Hill to Manhattan on the SIM32 bus, said she and her husband initially opposed the tolls. But their tune changed as their daily ride sped up considerably across the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, up the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and through the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel.
“The ride is much shorter. There’s less traffic. It’s just a much better commute,” said Rapino, 57. “[My husband] commutes all the way to Midtown and for him it’s been big, big time savings.”
The Rapinos are just two of the more than 23,000 Staten Islanders who ride ferries or MTA buses daily into the area of Manhattan below 60th Street, where private vehicle drivers must now pay a $9 toll. That’s more than the 6,700 Staten Islanders who drive from the borough to the so-called Congestion Relief Zone every day, according to an MTA analysis.
Anna Gorny, another SIM32 rider, said she never thought congestion pricing would lead to such drastic reductions in traffic gridlock. Her bus was running nine minutes ahead of schedule.
“I’m definitely positively surprised, but I think it’s going to take a bit longer to see the long-term effects of it,” said Gorny, 34. “I think some people are still kind of shell-shocked at the original rollout.”
But the overnight improvement in commutes for Staten Islanders doesn’t jibe with the rhetoric of many of the borough’s elected officials. Malliotakis was just one of the local politicians who have fought against congestion pricing. Outgoing Councilmember Joe Borelli called for residents of the borough to be exempted from the tolls. Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella was among the many elected officials who sued, unsuccessfully, to block the program.
Congestion pricing’s success in reducing traffic tolls features heavily in the MTA’s lawsuit arguing the federal transportation department has unlawfully and illegitimately withdrawn its approval.
The tolls have reduced gridlock and sped up buses so much that MTA officials have floated the idea of adding more frequent service on routes across the city.
Still, Malliotakis argues the tolls punish people in her district.
“President Trump is a New Yorker who understands the negative impact this additional toll had on my constituents, local businesses and our city’s economy,” she wrote in a statement.
Have a question about subway cars (or literally anything else NYC-transit related)? Use this form to submit yours and we may answer it in a future newsletter!
But note that Curious Commuter questions are exclusive for On The Way newsletter subscribers. Sign up for free here.
Dashawn, from East Orange, New Jersey
I would like to know why there still isn't a ferry landing for Coney Island from the NYC Ferry.
Answer
The New York City Economic Development Corporation, which runs the NYC Ferry service, tried to bring a dock and landing to Coney Island. Back in 2019, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio announced plans to add a landing that would provide ferry service to the neighborhood by 2021. The EDC even began constructing a docking site in Coney Island Creek, but abandoned the project in 2022 “due to navigation and safety concerns related to sand buildup.” The EDC has since spent more money studying the possibility of a landing, but agency spokesperson Jeff Holmes said consultants found constructing a landing at Coney Island would cost five times as much as other parts of the city.
The latest NYC area transit headlines
Listen here:
- 'I need to get this baby off the subway floor.’ Stephen Nessen wrote a detailed account of what happened after a woman went into labor on the W train last week.
- Getting Hoboken PATH trains back On The Way: The station has been closed for nearly the entire month with the promise of better commutes. We checked in on the progress.
- Did this man actually steal $60,000 worth of electronics from the Atlantic-Barclays station? Police say the heist involved a circular power saw.
- And this guy is all about stealing trains. A teen who was part of a group of boys who police say took an R train for a joyride last month was also caught breaking into the conductor’s cab of a 2 train this week.
- Did Broadway benefit from congestion tolls? Audiences at shows have grown since the launch, but it’s still too early to draw any concrete conclusions.
- Listen to our discussion from last week. To get the full benefits of this newsletter you simply must listen to our audio component (or watch a condensed version on social media if that's more your vibe). Download our app and tune in to “All Things Considered” around 4 p.m. for this week's segment.
Tagged
new york city
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transportation
On The Way
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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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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