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07-01-2025
NEW YORK: The first congestion charge scheme for vehicles in the US has come into effect in New York City.
Car drivers will pay up to $9 (£7) a day, with varying rates for other vehicles.
The congestion zone covers an area south of central park, taking in well-known sites such as the Empire State Building, Times Square and the financial district around Wall Street
The scheme aims to ease New York’s notorious traffic problems and raise billions for the public transport network, but has faced resistance, including from famous New Yorker and President-elect Donald Trump.
New York State Governor Kathy Hochul made the case for a congestion charge two years ago, but it was delayed and revised following complaints from some commuters and businesses.
The new plan revives one scheme that she paused in June, saying there were “too many unintended consequences for New Yorkers”.
Most drivers will be charged $9 once per day to enter the congestion zone at peak hours, and $2.25 at other times.
Small trucks and non-commuter buses will pay $14.40 to enter Manhattan at peak times, while larger trucks and tourist buses will pay a $21.60 fee.
The charge has been met with plenty of opposition, including from taxi drivers’ associations but its most high-profile opposition has come from Trump, a native New Yorker who has vowed to kill the scheme when he returns to office this month.
Local Republicans have already asked him to intervene.
Congressman Mike Lawler, who represents a suburban district just north of New York City, asked Trump in November to commit to “ending this absurd congestion pricing cash grab once and for all”.
A judge denied an 11th-hour effort Friday by neighboring New Jersey state officials to block the scheme on grounds of its environmental impact on adjoining areas.
Last year, New York City was named the world’s most-congested urban area for the second year in a row, according to INRIX, a traffic-data analysis firm.
Vehicles in downtown Manhattan drove at a speed of 11mph (17km/h) during peak morning periods in the first quarter of last year, the report said.
Some drivers, like Omayra Rolon, say the plan will take a toll on people’s wallets.
“I feel like it’s a lot, the cost for people that live in the city and that are commuting in daily for work,” Rolon said. “And I think that’s going to create more traffic in the zones outside as people are going to be parking and then trying to get to their work from there.”
While he understands people are still not on board with congestion pricing, Lieber says people may start to change their mind once they see the impacts of the plan.
“They’re spending hours stuck in traffic. It’s not good for them, it’s bad for the economy. We have trucks stuck in traffic with materials, and plumbers, and it’s much better for us if we have less congestion,” Lieber said. “We obviously have to have people be able to get in ambulances to hospitals. It’s a benefit for the drivers and it’s also a benefit for the 90% of New Yorkers who do take transit.”
The FDNY expressed outrage they will now have to pay more to keep others safe downtown.
“How do we get our money back for this unfair tax burden that’s in place on not only them, but every resident of New York City?” said Uniformed Firefighters Association President Andrew Ansbro.
On any given day, at any given time there are two thousand firefighters on duty ready to respond. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
