Congestion pricing in New York City

Map of the congestion pricing zone^[1]

Congestion pricing in New York City, also known as the Central Business District Tolling Program, began on January 5, 2025. It applies to most motor vehicular traffic using the central business district area of Manhattan south of 60th Street, known as the Congestion Relief Zone, in an effort to encourage commuters to use public transportation instead.^[2] This disincentivizing fee, intended to cut down on traffic congestion and pollution, was first proposed in 2007 and included in the 2019 New York State government budget by the New York State Legislature. Tolls are collected electronically and vary depending on the time of day, type of vehicle, and whether a vehicle has an E-ZPass toll transponder. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) estimates $15 billion in available capital will be generated by bonding revenues from the tolls, which will be available to fund repairs and improvements to the subway, bus, and commuter rail systems.

As of 2024, New York City led the world in urban automobile traffic congestion,^[3] despite having a 24/7 rapid transit system. Since the early 20th century, several proposals have been floated for traffic congestion fees or limits for vehicles traveling into or within the Manhattan central business district. A recurring proposal was adding tolls to all crossings of the East River, which separates New York City's Manhattan borough from the city's boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. In the 1970s, after New York City was deemed to be in violation of the Clean Air Act, Mayor John Lindsay proposed limiting cars in Lower Manhattan and tolling all crossings of the East River, but ultimately withdrew the proposal. Lindsay's successor Abraham Beame subsequently opposed the tolling scheme. Beame's successor Ed Koch attempted to restore limits on vehicles entering Manhattan, but the federal government preempted his plan. New York City was judged to be compliant with the Clean Air Act in 1981, and through the 1980s and 1990s, other proposals to limit congestion in Manhattan's business district stagnated.

A congestion pricing plan was proposed in 2007 by Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a component of PlaNYC, his strategic plan for the city. However, the proposal stalled in the New York State Assembly. In response to the 2017 New York City transit crisis of the MTA, Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed a plan similar to Bloomberg's that would take advantage of open road tolling technology and provide a revenue stream for the agency. In 2019, following another two years of negotiation, Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio agreed to implement congestion pricing in order to stem the ongoing transit crisis. Federal officials gave final approval to the plan in June 2023, but due to various delays, the rollout had been postponed several times. Governor Kathy Hochul indefinitely placed the plan on hold in June 2024, less than a month before it was planned to go into effect; as a result, the MTA had to postpone many of its capital projects. In November 2024, Hochul revived the congestion toll proposal at a lower price point.