Manhattan enters the congestion pricing zone

New York has rolled out its controversial congestion pricing plan, angering commuters while pleasing advocates of a Manhattan less clogged by vehicular traffic.

The plan went into effect on Sunday. The fee for most vehicles traveling in the zone — which covers all of Manhattan below 60th Street — from 5 am to 9 pm weekdays will be $9, reduced from $15 following a public outcry. The overnight rate is $2.25.

"The Congestion Relief Zone has been in operation since midnight — 1,400 cameras, over 110 detection points, over 800 signs and 400 lanes of traffic, and it's all gone smoothly," said Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Chair and CEO Janno Lieber at a news conference in Grand Central Terminal on Sunday.

The first day went relatively well, but the real test will come during the work week.

"It's way too early to declare victory or to draw any permanent conclusions, but the indication so far is positive," Lieber said in an update on Monday. "Now, it's a snow day. We'll see. But, positive, positive."

Since the pandemic, Mondays and Fridays have tended to be lighter traffic days in Manhattan.

"We want to encourage trucks to do more deliveries at night, we want improvements to vehicle speeds especially for buses, we want to make sure that emergency response vehicles can get where they are going faster, and I hope drivers will take another look at the speed and convenience of mass transit," Lieber said on Sunday.

"The toll will result in at least 80,000 fewer vehicles entering the zone every day, relieving crowding in what is today the most congested district in the United States," the MTA website says.

Over in New Jersey, drivers heading into Manhattan have been hit with a double whammy as fares for Port Authority bridges and tunnels, such as the Holland and Lincoln tunnels, increased by 3 percent this week.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy released a statement on congestion pricing saying that the state will "continue fighting against this unfair and unpopular scheme", CBS New York reported.

Passengers in yellow cabs will be charged 75 cents within the zone, while those using ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft will be charged $1.50.

"Our beloved, iconic yellow cabs, which have really had a brutal 10 years," Manhattan Borough President Mark Levin told The New York Times. "They're going to get a boost from this, because the fee for Uber and Lyft is double."

Congestion pricing is expected to bring in $15 billion for the MTA's $51.5 billion capital improvement program.

Eighty percent of the money raised from the plan, which will be collected via cameras reading vehicles' E-ZPass tags and license plates, will go toward infrastructure improvements for the city's subway and buses. Those without E-ZPass, however, will pay more — $13.50 — and will be billed through the mail after having their license plates read.

"With my experience of the MTA and where they've allocated their funds in the past, they've done a pretty poor job with that," said Christakis Charalambides, a supervisor in the fashion industry, as he waited for a subway Sunday morning in Lower Manhattan. "I don't know if I necessarily believe it until I really see something."

Anyone who has been in Manhattan on a weekday can see the obvious gridlock in the borough, especially when traveling east to west. The subway also has been beset with instances of people being shoved on the tracks, along with the shock of riders seeing a video of a woman burning to death after she was lit on fire while sleeping on a train in Coney Island, Brooklyn. A Guatemalan migrant in the United States illegally has been charged with murder in the case.

Nick Sortor posted on X.com on Sunday to 678,000 followers: "JUST IN: A man has been stabbed in the NYC Subway, just HOURS after congestion pricing kicked in, which forced MORE riders into the dangerous system. This is just going to get worse, and @GovKathyHochul is doing NOTHING about it."

Jack Raines, who described himself as a Columbia Business School graduate, posted on X to 68,000 followers: "My only thought on this is that for congestion pricing to work, public transit has to be safe. NYC has to have a zero tolerance policy toward aggressive behavior on the subway. Laws need to promote a safe, efficient society for everyone, not enable society's worst."

The Guardian Angels, a volunteer watchdog group, have restarted patrols in the subways for the first time since 2020. The group is led by Curtis Sliwa, a radio personality who lost to current Mayor Eric Adams in the 2021 mayoral election and who plans to run again.

Lieber caused some consternation, when in an interview with Bloomberg Surveillance on Monday, said transit crime was down 12.5 percent and that the perception about crime among riders may be "in people's heads".

The Transport Workers Union, in a post on X wrote: "Total BS" adding that Lieber "ignores the fact that violent crime is soaring. Felony assaults were up 51.6% and murders were up 233% last year compared to 2019 (January through 12/29). Such # are published in the MTA's own committee books."

Many commuters also are irate at the MTA, which loses millions of dollars a year due to fare beaters, for example — people who jump the subway turnstile or board buses and don't pay the toll, which is currently $2.75 a ride.

In 2023, the MTA estimated that it had lost as much as $690 million in 2023. The agency said that fare beaters make up a third of bus riders and about 13 percent of subway riders.

Only time will tell if the $9 will be enough to deter driving in a city that is used to high costs and has many wealthy individuals who can easily afford the congestion fare.

On Sunday, two New York City firefighters unions also voiced concern about the pricing plan applying to firefighters using their personal vehicles to drive into Manhattan.

"Where do these officers put their gear? Do they get on the Long Island Rail Road? Do they get on the 7 train? How do they get to work with this gear? And whose responsibility is it to get them there safely?" Uniformed Fire Officers Association President Jimmy Brosi asked, reported radio station 1010 WINS. "And why [has] this message not been heard at the state level, at the MTA, at the department level or even at the New York City mayor's office? We have brought this to every one of them."

Drivers who show that they make less than $50,000 will be eligible for discounts. Disabled commuters, who cannot take public transit, can apply for an exemption to the fees.

To Roger Corrado, 62, who lives in North Bergen, New Jersey, congestion pricing felt like a "slap in the face", he told The New York Times. "Think about a guy like myself, for 40 years commuting into Manhattan, paying the tolls, contributing to all the businesses in Manhattan. Now we feel like, where's the loyalty? Like, this is how you treat us?"

Phil Bauer, a surgeon who lives in Midtown Manhattan, supports congestion pricing. "I think the idea would be good to try to minimize the amount of traffic down and try to promote people to use public transportation," he told the Times.

US President-elect Donald Trump, a native New Yorker, has vowed to end the program when he takes office, starting on Jan 20. In November, Trump said that congestion pricing "will put New York City at a disadvantage over competing cities and states, and businesses will flee".

The toll was supposed to go into effect last year with a $15 charge, but Hochul abruptly paused the program before the 2024 election, when congressional races in suburban areas around the city, the main opponents to the program — were considered to be vital to the Democratic Party's bid to retake control of Congress.

Agencies contributed to this story.