By David Shepardson
(Reuters) -New York Governor Kathy Hochul will announce on Thursday that the state plans to revive a congestion charge for driving in parts of Manhattan that she indefinitely put on hold in June, a source told Reuters.
New York City’s congestion pricing program, the first of its kind in the U.S., was initially to have charged a toll of $15 during daytime hours for passenger vehicles driving in Manhattan south of 60th Street starting June 30.
Hochul plans to announce a revised program that is expected to have a base charge of $9 for passenger cars, the source said. The plan was reported earlier by media outlet Gothamist.
London implemented a similar charge in 2003.
The revised plan will need the fast-track approval of the U.S. Transportation Department and the new toll is expected to be implemented before President Joe Biden leaves office on Jan. 20. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is expected to vote next week to approve the charge, the source added.
A Transportation Department spokesperson declined to comment.
Hochul had cited high inflation and a desire to not deter commuters or tourists because of the additional charge for her decision to halt implementation.
A spokesperson for Hochul said the governor on Thursday “will announce the path forward to fund mass transit, unclog our streets and improve public health by reducing air pollution.”
A group of five New York House Republicans led by Representative Mike Lawler urged incoming President Donald Trump in a letter to kill the charge, asking him to end “this absurd congestion pricing cash grab once and for all.” A Trump spokesperson did not immediately comment.
In the aftermath of the delay, the MTA in June said it was putting $16.5 billion in capital projects on hold.
MTA has said congestion pricing would cut traffic by 17%, improve air quality and increase mass transit use by 1% to 2%, generate up to $1.5 billion annually and support $15 billion in debt financing for mass transit improvement.
In 2019, state lawmakers approved the plan to help fund improvements in mass transit using tolls to manage traffic in New York City, the most congested of any U.S. city.
Congestion pricing had been projected to start in 2021 but the federal government under Trump took no action. It was approved under Biden in 2023.
New York says more than 900,000 vehicles enter the Manhattan Central Business District daily, which reduces travel speeds to around 7 miles per hour on average.
Riders Alliance Executive Director Betsy Plum said “congestion pricing cannot happen soon enough. Once the first tolls are collected, we will finally breathe easier.”
