Congestion pricing in New York City

Congestion pricing in New York City, also known as the Central Business District Tolling Program, began on January 5, 2025. It applies to most cars and trucks entering the central business district area of Manhattan south of 61st Street. The goal is to encourage commuters to use public transportation instead of driving, which helps reduce traffic congestion and pollution.

The idea for congestion pricing was first proposed in 2007 and was included in the 2019 New York State government budget. Tolls are collected electronically and change depending on the time of day, the type of vehicle, and whether a vehicle has an E-ZPass toll transponder. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority expects to generate $15 billion to improve subways, buses, and commuter rail systems.

New York City has some of the worst traffic in the world, even though it has a rapid transit system that runs all day and night. For many years, people have suggested charging fees or limiting vehicles in the Manhattan central business district, especially at crossings of the East River between Brooklyn and Queens.

After delays and changes in plans, congestion pricing was finally put in place. It quickly led to fewer cars on the road, shorter travel times for everyone, more people walking and better air quality in the city. There were also fewer accidents involving pedestrians and safer streets overall.

Tolling program

The congestion pricing zone covers most of Manhattan south of 61st Street. Drivers do not pay if they stay on FDR Drive or the West Side Highway. Drivers on the Brooklyn Bridge and Queensboro Bridge are also exempt if they use certain ramps.

The base toll for passenger vehicles was set at $15 once per day, but was later reduced to $9. Other vehicles could pay up to $36 per day, and taxis and ride-shares pay per trip. Vehicles using certain tunnels could receive credits or discounts on the toll. Low-income residents get a 50% discount after their first 10 trips each month. Some vehicles, like emergency vehicles and those carrying disabled passengers, are exempt from tolls.

Equipment

License plate scanners are placed at each entrance to the congestion zone. These scanners, installed by TransCore, are on traffic lights and above the streets. They look for E-ZPass transponders and take infrared photographs of license plates to determine the vehicle type. This helps avoid bright lights in the neighborhood. If a license plate is hard to read, it is reviewed by hand. The system also uses learning tools to sort vehicles into the right toll groups.

Early plans

Further information: History of congestion pricing in New York City

The bridges connecting Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg, and the Queensboro Bridge over the East River used to have tolls, but these were removed before the Great Depression. Ideas to bring back tolls came up many times over the years, in 1933, 1952, 1966, 1968, and 1971.

In the 1970s, Mayor John Lindsay wanted to limit cars in Lower Manhattan and charge tolls for crossing the East River. But his successor, Abraham Beame, did not support this idea. Later, Ed Koch, who followed Beame, tried to put limits back on cars entering Manhattan.

In more recent times, congestion pricing was suggested many times but did not happen. Mayor Michael Bloomberg suggested it in 2007 as part of his plan called PlaNYC, but it did not move forward. Another idea was brought up by traffic commissioner Sam Schwartz in 2015, but the rules to make this happen were never approved.

Approval and implementation efforts

2017 proposal

As complaints about the city's subway delays and disrepair reached a peak in mid-2017, Governor Andrew Cuomo drafted a congestion pricing proposal with lessons from Bloomberg's handling of the State Legislature. Despite having earlier doubted such a plan's viability, Cuomo described congestion pricing as "an idea whose time has come." London and Stockholm had implemented the concept successfully. Cuomo's plan aimed to raise funds for city transit and reduce street gridlock, while balancing suburban commuter considerations. The plan could be implemented through open road tolling, which records E-ZPass transponders and license plates without forcing the vehicles to slow down significantly.

In October 2017, the New York State Government created a task force, Fix NYC, to find solutions for fixing mass transit and lowering congestion. The task force was assigned to study traffic on New York City's roadways and report its findings to Cuomo by December.

Initial recommendations

On January 16, 2018, in a State of the State address, Cuomo announced more details on his congestion pricing plan. Tolls would be charged in a geographic zone of Manhattan based on the time of day and type of vehicle instead of being placed on bridges. The report recommended implementing tolls based on time of day and geographical zone. Cars would pay up to $11.52, trucks would pay up to $25.34, and taxis would pay a $2 to $5 surcharge per trip if these vehicles drove into Manhattan's central business district during rush hours. Under the task force's plan, the only drivers who would be able to avoid a toll would be those who cross the Brooklyn Bridge or Queensboro Bridge and then immediately exit onto the FDR Drive once they reach Manhattan. Tolls on taxis and for-hire vehicles would be implemented within a year, and on cars and trucks in 2020. The tolls were estimated to raise up to $1.5 billion a year.

The congestion toll was not included in the state budget that was passed in March 2018. However, a surcharge was levied on taxi, for-hire, and ride-share trips in Manhattan below 96th Street.

In his 2019 State of the State Address in January 2019, Cuomo announced another state budget, which would provisionally include congestion pricing. The following month, on February 26, de Blasio announced his support for congestion pricing during a joint announcement with Cuomo of a plan that outlined ten steps to fix MTA operations. One of these steps called for enacting a form of congestion pricing by December 2020, a plan that both men agreed on for the first time. The revenue would go into a so-called lock box that could only be used by the MTA. In March 2019, Cuomo's congestion pricing plan was again included in the 2019 New York state budget, though specific details still had to be outlined.

Final components

A congestion pricing proposal in March 2019 was ultimately passed on April 1 as part of the New York State Budget, making New York City the first city in the United States to enact congestion pricing. Vehicles would be tolled only once per day. The plan would not go into effect until 2021 at the earliest.

As part of the law, the Central Business District Tolling Program would be planned by, implemented by and operated by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority. The TBTA board was to institute a "traffic mobility review" board, which will consist of a chair and five members, who were to be appointed by the TBTA board. This board was to recommend the toll amounts in late 2020, or no later than 30 days before the implementation of the tolling program. A public hearing was to be held before the board's vote.

The board was to recommend an amount that provides a minimum of $15 billion in funding for the MTA's 2020–2024 Capital Program, not including the costs of the tolling program. The majority of the funds, 80%, would be used for the Staten Island Railway, New York City Subway, and MTA Regional Bus Operations, while 10% each would be given to the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad. The board was empowered to recommend tolling exemptions, which would be determined by a traffic study of their impact. Authorized emergency vehicles and qualifying vehicles transporting people with disabilities were not planned to be charged. A plan to address charges on for-hire vehicles was to be implemented by the TBTA. The TBTA, in conjunction with the NYCDOT, was to report on the effects of the tolling program, such as traffic congestion, air quality and emissions, mass transit ridership, and expenditures a year after the implementation of the plan, and every two years afterwards.

The exemption of the West Side Highway and the credit given to drivers using the Henry Hudson Bridge and heading into the congestion zone were added to the plan on March 31, 2019. Electrical toll-taking equipment will have to be installed at the more than 30 exits into the cordon from the West Side Highway, at the 11 exits from the FDR Drive, and at the eight avenues that delineate the northern boundary of the congestion zone at 59th Street/Central Park South. The law also exempted people living in the congestion zone who make less than $60,000 a year by deducting the cost of the tolls from their tax bills. On March 28, 2019, the TBTA issued a request for technology (RFT) for alternate ways to implement the congestion pricing tolling. Options the TBTA included in the RFT are roadside bluetooth readers, connected vehicle technology, smartphone applications, and Global Navigation Satellite System based tolling.

Reaction

As with the Bloomberg proposal, Queens politicians still opposed Cuomo's proposal because it would potentially add tolls to the remaining free crossings over the East River. David Weprin, a New York State Assemblyman representing parts of Queens, called it "an additional tax on people who drive into Manhattan, often not wealthy people, but middle-class people". He said that much of Queens and many parts of Brooklyn had little access to mass transit, and that disabled residents from all boroughs would also be negatively affected because the subway was generally not accessible to people with disabilities. Bloomberg's successor, Bill de Blasio, also initially opposed congestion pricing. Instead, de Blasio proposed a tax on wealthy residents to fund the subway, even though a similar tax for universal prekindergarten had previously failed in the state legislature.

In May 2018, New York gubernatorial election candidate Cynthia Nixon proposed implementing both Cuomo's congestion pricing proposal and de Blasio's "millionaire tax", as well as a third proposal to levy fines on companies that pollute in the state. Nixon, a Democratic primary challenger to Cuomo, stated that all three proposals could be used to raise money for maintaining the city's subway system.

Many residents of Brooklyn and Queens opposed Cuomo's congestion pricing proposal because they would be forced to pay a toll to drive to Manhattan. These residents, in turn, had to drive because they lived too far from subway stations. Supporters included Uber, which was planning to begin a "six-figure" advertising campaign in support of congestion pricing in January 2018. The same month, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign released a report in support of congestion pricing. It found that in most New York State Assembly districts within the city, drivers tended to have higher incomes than mass-transit commuters, and that less than 10% of drivers from every district drove into the proposed congestion pricing area.

Further planning and delays

On October 18, 2019, the MTA announced that it would award the seven-year contract to design, build, operate, and maintain the tolling infrastructure for congestion pricing to TransCore for $507 million. In November 2019, a group of transit advocacy and good government organizations sent a letter to the MTA Board requesting that the Traffic Mobility Review Board (TMRB) be set up.

News outlets reported in February 2020 that the congestion fee could potentially be blocked by the federal government of the United States, due to disagreements between Cuomo and U.S. president Donald Trump. The congestion fee had to be approved by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) because some federal roads would be covered by the charge, and since federal law only allowed tolls to be installed on roads constructed with federal money if they are part of a value pricing program. That month, Politico reported that the MTA had not gotten an answer from the federal government on the type of environmental review process the tolling program would need to undergo. A full environmental impact statement (EIS) could take several years, while a shorter environmental assessment (EA) could be completed in less time. It reported that MTA Chairman and CEO Pat Foye and NYCDOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg had met with Elaine Chao, the USDOT Secretary, to get an answer to this question in April 2019. While it was understood that the program would start in January 2021, the delay in determining the type of environmental review meant that it was unlikely to start then. The MTA was not allowed to do any work on the environmental review until a Notice of Intent was published in the Federal Register, and could not do any preparation for it since it would not know what it would be mandated to study.

The COVID-19 pandemic in New York City resulted in a decline in use of the New York City Subway between March and June 2020. Following the city's partial reopening in June, a mayoral panel projected that many people would choose to drive, for fear that taking mass transit would expose them to COVID-19, and studied congestion pricing as a solution to lessen road traffic. However, the federal government had still not acted. Janno Lieber, then the MTA's Chief Development Officer, said on July 13, 2020 that congestion pricing could be delayed until 2022 because it would take one year to install the required infrastructure even after federal approval. On July 14, 2020, Mayor de Blasio said that if Joe Biden were elected president in November, federal delays in determining the type of environmental review needed could go away.

By November 2020, the MTA reported that the continued delays could postpone the start of congestion pricing to 2023. Upon implementation, the revenue could be used to pay off pandemic-related deficits in the MTA's budget. The MTA had not yet set up the Traffic Mobility Review Board (TMRB), which was responsible for setting up toll rates and making decisions on potential exemptions and sending them to the MTA Board for approval. While the law that created congestion pricing required the TMRB to issue a report between November 15, 2020 and December 31, 2020, the law allowed the MTA to delay setting up the board until 30 days before the tolling program would be initiated.

Federal review

With the inauguration of Joe Biden as U.S. president in 2021, transit officials expressed optimism that the Biden administration would allocate funding to congestion pricing. Pete Buttigieg, the U.S. secretary of transportation, prioritized the congestion pricing plan that February. In March 2021, the federal government gave the MTA permission to conduct an environmental assessment (EA), ending months of stalling under the Trump administration. Eric Adams, who won the June 2021 New York City Democratic mayoral primary, also expressed his support for congestion pricing. As part of the federal government's approval of an environmental assessment, the MTA was obligated to discuss the plans with officials from Connecticut and New Jersey, as residents of these states would be affected by the plans. By mid-July, the MTA had only conducted one meeting with Connecticut officials and none with New Jersey officials.

MTA officials had publicly stated in mid-2021 that the agency was earning enough from state taxes to pay for its capital upgrades and that it did not immediately need congestion pricing funds for its 2020–2024 Capital Program. In response, de Blasio pressured the MTA to speed the implementation of congestion pricing, expressing his intention to have the surcharge in place by July 2022. In August 2021, New Jersey congressmen Josh Gottheimer and Jeff Van Drew proposed legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives which would prohibit the MTA from obtaining some federal grants unless an exemption to the congestion pricing plan was given to New Jersey drivers. The same month, the FHWA approved environmental assessment and public outreach for the congestion pricing plan, which was expected to take 16 months. Cuomo's resignation as governor that month also raised some uncertainty about the future of the congestion-pricing plan, as his successor Kathy Hochul had not committed to upholding congestion pricing. If the plan did receive federal approval, contractor TransCore was required to install toll equipment within 310 days.

The MTA held its first hearings on the congestion pricing plan on September 23, 2021, in which it announced draft toll rates. At the time, the peak toll was planned to range from $9 to $23, while for drivers with E-ZPass, off-peak and nighttime tolls would be lower. The MTA had promised exemptions to emergency vehicles and disabled-rider transport, and it was also proposing a tax credit for low-income residents in the congestion pricing zone. In March 2022, the federal government requested that the MTA answer 430 questions about the technical aspects of the congestion charge before the MTA submitted the plan for a final public review. Hochul said in June 2022 that the congestion pricing plan would not be implemented for at least another year. The delay in the implementation of congestion pricing also posed issues for other projects, including the second phase of the Second Avenue Subway, which would be partially funded by income from the congestion charge. Neither the MTA nor the federal government were willing to publicly disclose many aspects of the review process.

Final approval and opposition

Lee Zeldin, the Republican nominee in the 2022 New York gubernatorial election, expressed his opposition to the proposal. Public hearings on the proposal were held during the final week of August 2022; Gottheimer said that three-fourths of commenters were opposed to the plan. Later that year, New Jersey governor Phil Murphy requested that the federal government complete a full environmental impact study of the plan, and several New York City politicians petitioned Hochul to hold a statewide referendum on the congestion-pricing plan. Gottheimer and Mike Lawler introduced legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives in early 2023, which would ban the MTA from using federal funding for its capital projects unless drivers were exempted from all taxes related to the congestion charge. The MTA indicated in February 2023 that it had further postponed the implementation of congestion pricing to the second quarter of 2024.

On May 5, 2023, the Federal Highway Administration approved the release of the final EA and the draft Finding of No Significant Impact for the project, which occurred on May 11, 2023, triggering a 30-day public notice period. The draft EA noted that the plan would include a 50% reduction in tolls between 12 a.m. and 4 a.m. to encourage trucks to make deliveries at night, a once-a-day charge cap for for-hire vehicle and taxi drivers, and $207.5 million in environmental mitigation measures in neighborhoods that could see worse air quality with the tolls. In addition, a 25% discount would be available to individuals making under $50,000 a year after their first ten trips each month during the first five years of the tolls.

The Federal Highway Administration gave its final approval on June 26, 2023, allowing the MTA to begin setting toll rates for the proposed congestion zone. The MTA issued a notice to TransCore to begin its installation of the tolling infrastructure; it had 310 days to do so under a contract. The plan was expected to be implemented around the start of May 2024. According to The New York Times, the congestion fees could be used to pay for new subway signals, additional elevators, new platform screen doors, updated turnstiles, and surveillance cameras. The MTA also planned to use revenue from the congestion charge to reduce pollution in the Bronx.

After the public notice period for congestion pricing began, New Jersey officials launched an advertising campaign to fight the plan. Opponents protested the plans that August, as the Traffic Mobility Board began considering whether to grant exemptions to certain groups of drivers. The New Jersey government sued the federal government in July 2023 to block the implementation of congestion pricing, with Staten Island officials as co-plaintiffs. The MTA joined the federal government as a co-defendant, while taxi drivers asked Hochul to exempt them from the congestion charge. Gottheimer said the charge would hurt small business owners in New York City. The MTA said the lawsuit placed numerous projects and 20,000 jobs at risk; a large portion of the MTA's 2020–2024 capital plan was to be financed by the toll.

On February 14, 2024, the MTA halted the awarding of nearly all additional contracts due to ongoing litigation over congestion pricing. Later in the month, the MTA released a list of projects that would not be completed without the funds to be generated from the program. The MTA had planned to award $12 billion in contracts in 2024, but was only expecting to award $2.9 billion in contracts.

At the end of February 2024, the MTA announced that almost all of the 110 toll gantries had been installed, in advance of the planned implementation of congestion pricing in June 2024. In addition, the agency began hosting four public hearings prior to the MTA board's final vote on the plan. Amid public opposition to the plan, the MTA placed all of its new construction contracts on hold the same month. On February 13, 2024, Streetsblog reported that the Environmental Protection Agency had sent a letter in March 2023 indicating that its concerns about the program were addressed. The EPA had initially expressed concerns about the program's impacts on environmental justice communities and inadequate data on air quality impacts in New Jersey.

The MTA reported in March 2024 that, of more than 25,000 people who submitted comments on the plan over the preceding three months, there were nearly twice as many comments in favor of the plan as against it. Conversely, a poll of New York City residents found that close to two-thirds of respondents were against the congestion toll. The MTA board gave its final approval to the plan on March 27, 2024, making New York City the first locality in the United States to approve the creation of a congestion-pricing zone. At the end of the month, the MTA announced that the congestion charge would begin on June 30, 2024, and allowed people to begin requesting toll exemptions.

Meanwhile, further lawsuits were filed by Mark Sokolich, the mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey; the United Federation of Teachers labor union and Staten Island borough president Vito Fossella; residents of Manhattan's Lower East Side neighborhood; the town of Hempstead, New York; and small business owners. Several New York state lawmakers also proposed a bill in April 2024 to repeal the congestion toll, and congressmembers Nicole Malliotakis and Josh Gottheimer introduced a similar bill in the U.S. House of Representatives. By then, all toll gantries had been installed. To reduce opposition to the plan, the MTA announced that New Jersey would receive some of the congestion toll revenue. The NYCDOT also provided funding to encourage commercial vehicles in the congestion zone to make deliveries during off-peak hours, while the MTA announced that it would reduce fares for some commuter rail trips and increase service on some express bus routes. Officials in other cities such as Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C., and San Francisco also contemplated congestion tolls in conjunction with New York City's planned congestion charge.

Postponement

Announcement

On June 5, 2024, Governor Hochul announced that the start of congestion pricing on June 30 would be paused indefinitely. She said this was because she was worried it might harm the city’s economy as it was recovering. The state had already spent a lot of money on getting ready for the program and had planned to use the money from the tolls for improving public transport. With the pause, lawyers for the transport authority told courts that they didn’t expect congestion pricing to start by June 30.

The night before, news reports had said that Hochul was thinking about delaying congestion pricing. These reports said her decision was not just about the economy, but also because she was worried about how it might affect some political races. Even though the efforts to gain control of a important political group didn’t work out, they did win some seats because of the pause. Some people thought her decision was mostly about politics and avoiding a unpopular issue.

Reactions

Hochul’s decision was criticized by many groups, including those who care about the environment and better public transport. They said that without the money from the tolls, improving the transport system would be harder. Some business groups did not like her idea to increase taxes on businesses to help pay for transport improvements. Even though the city’s leader said he agreed with Hochul, some of his team members spoke out against the decision.

The leader of the transport authority was surprised by the decision. At first, he tried to find a way to keep the plan going, but later he reported that he had considered leaving because he was unhappy with the delay.

News reports said that Hochul’s decision might need to be approved by the transport authority’s leaders. Some experts thought she might be challenged in court for making the decision on her own. One expert said the decision might break laws about reducing pollution.

After the pause was announced, a survey of likely voters who support the toll showed that half approved of the delay and about a third did not. Many thought the toll would make their trips worse, but more supported it after learning it would pay for specific projects. Some people also held events to show their support for the toll.

Impact on capital program and federal approval

The transport authority said that Hochul’s decision could delay many important projects, like making stations easier for everyone to use, because they would have to focus on keeping the system running. The authority would have to change its plans and present a new one soon. The authority also said that, by law, the toll needed approval from the government, the city, and the state, and that it could not start without this approval.

The final approval needed signatures from the state and city transport departments and the authority. On June 8, news reports said the government had not yet given its final approval. The authority’s leader said they were working to reduce their plans and would not give up on congestion pricing. He said the state’s leader told the state transport department not to sign the approval. The government held off on approving the authority’s plans, and the state’s leader warned that the authority might have to delay or cancel some projects. The authority’s leaders also decided to delay $16.5 billion worth of projects. There were worries that the transport system might have big problems again because of the delays. A report later in 2024 said the authority would need much more money than planned. The pause also created a big gap in the authority’s budget. News reports said the delays had already cost a lot of money.

Pro-congestion charge lawsuits

A group of experts, advocates, and others said they planned to challenge Hochul’s pause in court. The city’s financial leader said he would start a lawsuit in July if the toll did not start. Two lawsuits were started by different groups. Hochul said that a big political event later in 2024 should decide if the toll should start. In September 2024, a court judge decided not to stop the pause when the government asked to dismiss these lawsuits.

Proposed replacement of revenue

To replace the money that would have come from the tolls, the Governor suggested increasing a tax on some businesses in the city. Her idea was to raise the tax from 0.6% to 0.825% for businesses that spend more than a certain amount each year. There would also be a smaller tax cut for smaller businesses. The state’s leaders did not agree to this idea, so the Governor suggested another plan to give the authority $1 billion from the state’s money. But the state’s leaders did not support this plan either.

Revival of congestion toll

Later in June 2024, state leaders started talking with Hochul about starting the toll again, but with lower prices. They wanted to start it before the end of the year because a leader had said he might stop it if he was elected later in 2024. In August 2024, a group advising the authority said that none of the other ideas would make as much money as the toll would have.

By October, Hochul was thinking about starting the toll again. After that leader won the election, she suggested starting the toll with lower prices: $9 during the day and $2.50 at night, which was about 60% of the original price. The price could go up to $12 by 2028 and then to the full $15 by 2031. The lower price was chosen so that they wouldn’t need more reviews about how it would affect the environment. The authority voted to start the toll on November 18, 2024, and the government approved it three days later. Some political leaders said they would try to stop it, and others had concerns about how it would affect parking and prices in the city.

Remaining lawsuits

In November 2024, there were still several lawsuits going on against the toll; by December, there were ten.

One lawsuit was started by a town that said the authority did not follow the rules for getting public feedback. The court asked the authority and the Governor to appear in court in January 2025.

In December, the Governor said she had offered New Jersey some money if they dropped their lawsuit, but New Jersey’s leader said the offers were not good enough. The court decided that the toll could start while the lawsuits continued. Another court decision also said the toll could start.

On December 30, 2024, a federal court judge said that the toll could start even though New Jersey had sued. New Jersey asked for more information about how the toll would affect the environment and later asked a higher court to stop the toll, but the court said no. In April 2025, another judge dismissed some lawsuits against the toll. The town’s lawsuit was dismissed later that year.

Implementation

The toll started on January 5, 2025, at midnight. It began on a Sunday when there was less traffic, making it easier to fix any problems. For the first two months, there were no extra fees added for late payments. During January, riders of Lyft could get a $1.50 credit for trips through the zone, which could be used for future rides or with the city's Citi Bike system.

After the toll started, many changes were noticed. Traffic, accidents, parking problems, and noise complaints went down. More people started using buses, taxis, and subways. Business activity and the number of visitors in the toll area also went up.

Traffic decreased by 7.5% in the first week compared to the same week in 2024. Travel times got better, especially for trips between Manhattan and New Jersey. By July 2025, there were 67,000 fewer cars each day in the toll zone. Travel times improved, and delivery companies started using smaller vehicles to save on toll costs.

Bus travel times got better, and more people started using taxis and express buses. Subway ridership went up by 7.7% from 2024 to 2025. Walking increased in the toll zone, and traffic-related accidents dropped.

After the toll started, Broadway ticket sales went up. Most restaurant owners said their business stayed the same, but some said their costs went up or that fewer people were coming in. Sales tax money in the city also went up.

In July 2025, studies showed that air pollution levels went down in most places after the toll started. A study in 2026 found that vehicle emissions dropped by 16-22% because there were fewer trips and traffic moved faster.

In the first four months of 2025, the toll collected $215 million. This money was used to improve bus services and fund other projects. By December 2025, the toll had collected an estimated $548.3 million.

Some people and groups opposed the toll. The New York City Fire Department's union suggested members move away from the toll zone. There were discussions about possibly stopping the toll, but legal actions kept it in place. By March 2026, a court ruled that stopping the toll was not allowed.