Congestion pricing clears a major federal hurdle
Washington signed off on an environmental review, clearing the way for the first such tolling program in the United States.
New York's long-delayed plan to charge drivers a toll for entering the busiest parts of Manhattan cleared a critical hurdle this spring when federal officials signed off on an environmental review, moving the first congestion pricing program in the United States closer to reality.
The plan, authorised by the state in 2019, would toll most vehicles entering Manhattan below 60th Street, with the goals of reducing traffic, cutting pollution and raising billions of dollars for the chronically underfunded subway and bus systems. The federal review had been a major bottleneck, and its completion allowed the project to advance.
Transit advocates celebrated the milestone, arguing that congestion pricing would ease the gridlock that clogs Manhattan's streets, speed up buses, clean the air and provide a stable source of money to modernise the aging transit system that millions depend on.
But the plan remained deeply controversial. Drivers, suburban commuters and some outer-borough residents objected to the new cost, and officials in neighbouring New Jersey mounted legal challenges, arguing the program would simply shift traffic and pollution across the river.
With the federal sign-off in hand, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority turned to setting the toll rates and exemptions and installing the tolling infrastructure, aiming to launch the program the following year. After years of debate, a policy long discussed in theory was finally edging toward becoming a daily reality for New Yorkers.