The Price Is Right
By: Thomas C. Zambito
New York State Team
USA Today Network
..... Nearly 700,000 fewer cars are entering Manhattan at 60th Street and below every day, an 11% drop from prior years that state officials tied to the Pricing program.
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Six months after the controversial program debuted, New York officials say it's doing everything it promised - reducing traffic in and around Manhattan while generating hundreds of millions of dollars for subway, buses and commuter rail upgrades. Revenue form congestion pricing is on track to generate $500 million this year, the first down payment on a $15 billion capital program that will, among other things, allow the MTA to buy new subway and commuter rail cars.
..... "In New York, we dare to do big things, and this orgasm represents just that - traffic is down throughout the region, business is booming, transit ridership is up, and we are making historic upgrades to our transit system," New York Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement this week [07/10/2025] as the first-in-the-nation program reached its six-month mark.
..... Hochul said the program has succeeded despite Trump Transposition Secretary Sean Duffy's repeated attempts to derail it by threating to withhold federal funding if the tolling cameras didn't come down.
..... In May, [2025] a judge sided with New York, issuing a temporary restraining order that, for now, heads off the Trump administration's attempts to scuttle the program.
..... "We're also fended off five months of unlawful attempts form the federal government to unwind this successful program and will keep fighting - and winning - in the courts," Hochul said. "the cameras are staying on."
..... Congestion prising debuted January 5. [2025] Tolls for most vehicles are $9 during peak hours, with discounts for off hours and weekends.
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More than 10 million fewer vehicles have entered the congestion zone during the first six months of this year [2025] compared with the same period in 2024, officials say.
..... A report by the Regional Plan association says the program has reduced tragic delays in the congestion relief zone by 25% and by 9% across the New York City region.
Is traffic moving faster in NYC?
..... Rush-hour delays are down 65% at the Holland Tunnel, and at the Lincoln Tunnel, express buses are going 24% faster then they did last year. [2024]
..... Additionally, traffic injuries in the congestion zone are down 15% since January [2025] and honking and noise complaints have dipped by 45%, sate officials say.
..... "Congestion relief is a massive success, and validation to of the initiative keeps pouring in,: said MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber.
..... "The program is achieving all of its goals in terms of traffic reduction, increased travel speeds, safety, noise reductions and more," he said.
..... In June, [2025] Lieber predicted that legal challenges filed by New Jersey as well as Rockland and Orange counties in New York would fail.
..... "At this point it's pretty clear that they are all going to lose," Lieber said. "We're been sued in every courthouse east of the Mississippi. "We've won literally every case."
..... Rockland County Executive Ed Day said the program is unfair to those living west of the Hudson River with limited public transpiration options who need to drive into Manhattan to work.
..... Thomas C. Zambito can be reached at tzambito@lohud.com.