Congestion pricing tolls set at $15 for most drivers
Transit officials approved the toll structure for the long-awaited program, aiming to launch within months.
New York transit officials approved the toll rates for the city's landmark congestion pricing program this winter, setting a base charge of $15 for most passenger vehicles entering Manhattan below 60th Street and clearing another major step toward launching the first such scheme in the United States.
Under the approved plan, cars would pay the toll once a day during peak hours, with lower rates overnight and separate charges for trucks and motorcycles. Taxis and ride-hail vehicles would pass smaller per-trip fees on to passengers. A range of exemptions and credits were built in for certain drivers.
The program was projected to raise around a billion dollars a year, money legally dedicated to modernising the subway, buses and commuter rail, while cutting traffic and pollution in the congested core of Manhattan. Officials pointed to similar schemes in London, Stockholm and Singapore as evidence that tolling could tame gridlock.
The decision drew the familiar battle lines. Transit and environmental advocates celebrated, while drivers, suburban commuters and officials in New Jersey decried the new cost and vowed to fight on, including in court.
With the rates set and tolling equipment being installed, the agency aimed to switch on the program within months. After more than four years of planning, studies and debate, congestion pricing was finally on the verge of becoming a daily fact of life for anyone driving into the heart of New York.