NYC congestion pricing: Impact on NJ drivers
New York plans to start charging a congestion pricing toll on drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street in 2024.
As New Yorkers ramp up for the June 30 launch of congestion pricing tolls in Midtown, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority this week aimed to ease commuter rail fares with a 10% discount. But those breaks won’t help Hudson Valley commuters or others who catch a train outside the boundaries of New York City.
That’s because monthly rail passes on Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road will only be discounted for intra-city trips. Anyone whose starting destination is in the suburbs beyond the five boroughs won’t qualify.
Officials throughout the Hudson Valley have been fighting for discounts for drivers, especially west-of-Hudson commuters who don’t have the option of a one-seat train ride to the city. Rockland County and New Jersey officials and others have pursued legal action to block MTA’s congestion pricing plan.
Regional representatives were quick to blast toll cuts for some, while efforts to get discounts for suburban first responders and others have failed.
‘Feels like Groundhog Day’
Elected officials in Rockland and Orange have long said their counties’ residents are hit with extra taxes because they are in the MTA region but get few benefits from the agency.
“Hudson Valley families are struggling under the weight of a crushing affordability crisis and cannot afford the thousands in new tolls a year that it would cost the average Rockland County resident just to commute to New York City for work,” US Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican whose district includes all of Rockland and Putnam and parts of Westchester, said in a statement. “For the MTA to now discount the rate just for residents of the five boroughs is a slap in the face to Hudson Valley families.”
US Rep. Pat Ryan, a Democrat who represents Orange County and parts of Ulster and Dutchess counties, called for the discounts to be extended to all MTA riders. He also said the agency must commit to infrastructure upgrades in the Hudson Valley.
“First the MTA forced through an unfair, uninformed, and unacceptable congestion pricing plan, ignoring the voices of countless Hudson Valley firefighters, police officers, union members, teachers and other hard-working families. Now they’re adding insult to injury,” Ryan said in a statement.
Ryan and Lawler recently wrote a letter blasting the NYC-centric commuter discounts to MTA CEO Janno Lieber. The letter was also signed by US Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, a Long Island Republican, and US Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat.
“This announcement feels like Groundhog Day,” the letter states, “yet again, you are putting New York City first, and our communities last.”
The congestion pricing plan, the first approved in the US, is designed to curb greenhouse gases by cutting down on single-driver commutes. Toll revenue is also expected to increase funding for the continuously cash-strapped MTA.
In the zone
Tolling in the Congestion Relief Zone will be charged for vehicles entering any parts of Manhattan at or below 60th Street. Vehicles that traverse Manhattan via the West Side Highway and FDR Drive are exempt, as long as they stay on the highways.
Passenger vehicles would pay $15; the toll goes down to $3.75 off-peak, which is 9 pm-5 am weekdays and 9 pm-9 am weekends.
Trucks would be charged tolls between $24 or $36, based on size. Off-peak fares for trucks are between $6 and $9.
Drivers who don’t use EZPass will pay higher tolls and have to pay through the mail.
Drivers who enter Manhattan via the Holland and Lincoln tunnels can get a toll credit. That’s raised more concern about traffic being pushed onto the George Washington Bridge.
