New York state is about to start charging drivers a new $9 toll to enter Midtown Manhattan.
Gov. Kathy Hochul moved to restart the contentious congestion pricing plan, arguing it will help fund MTA upgrades and ease crowding and pollution on city streets.
Hochul had abruptly paused the program just before it was set to go into effect in June with a base rate of $15 — and then relaunched with with the lower fee just before President-elect Donald Trump’s administration had an opportunity to block it.
Critics argue the first-in-the-nation toll — which was first approved by state lawmakers and then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2019 — is just a cash grab for the MTA that’ll saddle New York City drivers with yet another fee.
Here’s what else you need to know:
When does congestion pricing start?
Cars will be tolled beginning at midnight on Jan. 5, Hochul said.
How much will drivers be charged?
Standard passenger vehicles using an E-ZPass will be charged $9 per day for entering the tolling zone during daytime hours, defined as 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.
That base amount is set to increase to $12 in 2028.
Other types of vehicles, like motorcycles and trucks, pay at different rates as follows:
- Motorcycles: $4.50
- Small trucks and non-commuter buses: $14.40
- Large trucks and tourism buses: $21.60
- Taxi and Black Car Drivers: $0.75 per ride
- Uber, Lyft and other rideshare drivers: $1.50 per ride
The toll is reduced by 75% during overnight hours, between 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., to around $2.25.
Drivers without an E-ZPass will will receive a bill via mail and pay an inflated toll amount, though it wasn’t immediately clear how much.
Where is the toll zone?
The toll zone encompasses all areas below 60th Street – effectively all of Manhattan south of Central Park.
Highways going through the central business district such as the FDR Drive, West Side Highway and Battery Park underpass are exempted unless drivers exit onto city streets within the zone.
How do you pay the toll?
The easiest way to pay the toll will be through an E-ZPass transponder. Cameras and plate readers already installed at entry points to the central business district will detect a driver’s entry and will bill their E-ZPass account directly.
Cars without an E-ZPass transponder will be tolled by being billed directly to the address on file connected to the vehicle’s license plate.
Drivers will pay an inflated toll amount for driving into the zone without an E-ZPass.
Are there any exemptions or workarounds to the toll?
The new toll includes a discount for some frequent low-income commuters. Hochul said that people making under $50,000 a year will be able to have all trips after their first 10 in a single calendar month discounted by 50%.
Transit and commuter busses will also not have to pay the toll.
Emergency vehicles like ambulances and fire trucks are exempt, as are city and state government vehicles like garbage trucks and school buses.
What will the money be used for?
The MTA will use the anticipated revenue from the toll to fund $15 billion for its 2020-2024 capital plan.
Hochul and the MTA say this will go towards capital improvements such as added elevators to stations, extending the Second Avenue subway, signal improvements and hundreds of new electric buses.
What could stop this from happening?
It’s unclear. Several lawsuits filed before Hochul’s June pause of the original tolling plan are still pending in federal and state courts.
If President-elect Donald Trump wants to try to stop the plan once he takes office in January, he’d likely have to launch yet another court battle.
Currently, the Biden administration is on board with the congestion pricing program. A spokesperson for the Federal Highway Administration confirmed that it is working to sign off on Hochul’s revised plan and get the toll up and running by Jan. 5.
The incoming Trump administration will almost definitely feel differently, with the president-elect telling The Post that he considered the toll the “most regressive tax known to womankind.”
Hochul has previously said she believes the toll can survive court challenges, even at its reduced $9 base rate.
