As congestion pricing approaches reality, opposition is mounting

When New York lawmakers approved congestion pricing in 2019, it was little more than a vague outline tucked into the state budget: Motorists entering the busiest parts of Manhattan would have to pay a fee to raise money for public transit.

But as the world’s first congestion pricing plan finally takes shape, a growing number of opponents — including Governor Philip D. Murphy of New Jersey, some New York City elected officials and influential labor unions — are making last-ditch efforts. to dilute or derail the effort before it even begins.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority expects to charge most passenger cars $15 a day to enter a traffic jam zone under 60th Street in June. Trucks would pay $24 or $36 depending on their size. Taxi fares would increase by $1.25, and Uber and Lyft fares would increase by $2.50.

Now, amid the uncertainty caused by legal and political clashes — over driver costs, the possibility of increased traffic in some neighborhoods and more — MTA officials have a number of capital construction projects suspended that had to be paid by the program.

Five lawsuits challenging the plan have been filed in federal courts in New York and New Jersey, while lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in Albany have introduced proposals to repeal congestion pricing or create exemptions. On March 13, a court-ordered settlement conference for the lawsuits ended without an agreement.

Andrew M. Cuomo, the former governor of New York who pushed for congestion pricing while in office, appeared to backtrack on March 11 when he wrote in it an op-ed in the New York Post that “many things have changed since 2019 and while it is the right public policy, we should seriously consider whether now is the right time to implement it.”

He wondered how the toll would affect the recovery of a city emerging from a pandemic and grappling with a migrant crisis and other pressing issues. And he pointed out that congestion charges, which are “intended to encourage people to use public transportation,” come as many worry about crime and mentally ill homeless people on the subway system.

Talk show host Whoopi Goldberg chimed in last week, complaining directly to Mr. Cuomo’s successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul, about congestion pricing during a segment of “The View.”

“This is a huge deal,” she said, “because I can afford it – don’t get me wrong, I can afford it – but a lot of my friends who drive here every day, who left here because they couldn’t afford to still live here, that is not possible.”

But congestion pricing will soon become a reality unless the federal courts decide to intervene, transportation and legal experts say.

Many consider the most serious challenge to be a lawsuit by New Jersey officials, scheduled for a hearing on April 3-4. It alleges that the toll plan’s environmental impacts have not been adequately assessed and that no mitigation funds have been specifically allocated to New Jersey communities that could see increased traffic and pollution. Fort Lee, NJ Mayor Mark J. Sokolich has filed a related lawsuit.

Three more lawsuits have been filed in New York: by Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella and the United Federation of Teachers; and by two groups of city residents.

“We have to do what we can to prevent this from happening,” Mr Fossella said. “More and more people are starting to realize the negative consequences for their wallets.”

According to the MTA, more than 25,000 public comments were submitted on congestion pricing from late December through mid-March, with about 60 percent expressing support while 32 percent were opposed.

MTA officials and Governor Hochul have stood their ground. The authority conducted an environmental study of the plan, which ran to more than 4,000 pages and was accepted by the Federal Highway Administration. “Oh, it will happen,” Ms. Hochul told reporters last month.

John J. McCarthy, the MTA’s chief of policy and external affairs, said the environmental study looked extensively at New Jersey communities and found no significant adverse effects. He added that “mitigations can and will be applied where necessary,” including in New Jersey, once the toll plan is finalized.

The congestion pricing plan is expected to reduce the number of vehicles entering Lower Manhattan by about 17 percent. according to a November report composed by an advisory committee that reports to the MTA. The report also states that the total number of kilometers driven will be reduced in 28 provinces in the region.

Other cities that have introduced congestion pricing programs, such as London, Singapore and Stockholm, have reported sharp drops in traffic and congestion.

The toll will also pay for much-needed upgrades to the subway system, which will benefit millions of riders, said Danny Pearlstein, a spokesman for Riders Alliance, an advocacy group that supports congestion pricing.

It wouldn’t be the first time that a traffic plan stumbled at the finish. In the 1970s, the city planned to charge tolls on the East River and Harlem River bridges when a new mayor, Abraham D. Beame, put a stop to that, recalled Samuel I. Schwartz, a former city traffic commissioner. A federal court later ruled in favor of the toll plan, but Congress passed a 1977 amendment that effectively blocked it.

“We were so close,” Mr. Schwartz said. “In the traffic department I was busy designing all the toll plazas. Nothing could stop this except an act of Congress – and that’s what stopped it.”

Mr Schwartz, a passionate supporter of congestion charging, said the recent opposition was expected and followed a pattern in Stockholm and other cities that introduced congestion charging.

Both supporters and opponents of congestion pricing have pushed for exemptions for certain drivers, which could reduce the projected $1 billion in annual toll revenues or lead to higher fees for other drivers.

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, who supports congestion pricing, has called for an exemption for “first responders,” including police officers, firefighters and medical personnel, many of whom live in Queens. “I don’t want to just clap for our first responders during a pandemic,” he said, adding, “we should lighten the burden at a time of inflation.”

In Albany, Democratic lawmakers have introduced bills to exempt residents of Lower Manhattan, Staten Island and even Rockland and Orange Counties north of the city. (Republicans have also sponsored bills to repeal congestion pricing, but they are unlikely to get far in a Democratic-controlled Legislature).

Assemblyman Chris Eachus, a Democrat who opposes congestion pricing, said many of his constituents in Rockland and Orange Counties, including firefighters, police officers, first responders and teachers, drive to work because they don’t have access to fast and reliable trains and buses. .

Still, there has been no serious discussion among Albany leaders about overhauling the congestion charge, several lawmakers and aides said.

The toll structure, which was recommended by an MTA advisory panel and pending approval by the MTA board, contains only limited exemptions. Emergency vehicles and vehicles transporting people with disabilities were already exempt by state law. The advisory council recommended adding exemptions for specialized government vehicles and for most buses.

The fight over exemptions has divided the city’s rental industry. Taxi owners and drivers have requested an exemption from the new fee, which would be passed on to passengers, saying higher fares would hurt their business. The new charge is in addition to existing congestion charges — $2.50 for taxis, $2.75 for Ubers and Lyfts — imposed in 2019.

But Josh Gold, a spokesman for Uber, which fought to pass congestion pricing, said the company supports the toll because funding a robust public transit system reduces the need for car ownership, which will likely lead to more Uber use, and it restricts traffic. ..

Even after congestion pricing goes into effect, it will likely face increased scrutiny and legal challenges.

New York opponents have called the MTA’s environmental study inadequate and have sought a comprehensive examination of the program’s environmental and socio-economic impacts on neighborhoods such as the Lower East Side, Battery Park City, East Harlem and the South Bronx, before toll collection begins. But at the settlement conference last week, “the MTA seemed unwilling to come to the table,” said Jack Lester, an attorney representing the group New Yorkers Against Congestion Pricing Tax.

MTA officials declined to discuss the settlement conference, saying they were ordered by the court not to discuss confidential proceedings.

Elizabeth Chan, a Battery Park City resident and plaintiff in one of the lawsuits, said it was “very frustrating to hear government officials say they’re going to take away the traffic congestion, they’re going to clean the air, they’re going to do all these great things.” doing.”

“Except that is the reality,” she added, “this current plan is going to do exactly those things to other parts of New York City.”