New York City plans to charge $9 fee for driving in Manhattan approved | New York

On By Littum

The US Department of Transportation has approved New York’s plan to impose a $9 congestion charge for driving in Manhattan starting Jan. 5, a move aimed at raising billions to fund better mass transit and reduce traffic congestion.

The congestion charge, the first of its kind in the United States, was revived last week by Gov. Kathy Hochul after she put it on hold indefinitely in June.

New York plans to charge a $9 daytime toll for passenger vehicles driving in Manhattan south of 60th Street. It scrapped an earlier plan to charge $15, which would have started on June 30 of this year.

The Federal Highway Administration said in a letter published Friday that no additional environmental assessment was needed to impose the lower toll and that it was consistent with a review completed in 2023.

The UK capital, London, implemented a similar fee in 2003, which is now £15 ($19).

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which approved the fee this week, said the toll will result in at least 80,000 fewer vehicles entering the zone daily, “relieving congestion in what is currently the most congested district in the United States”.

New York is racing to complete the impeachment before Donald Trump takes office. The president-elect, who has a residence in Manhattan, said last week that he strongly disagreed with the decision to implement the fee.

Hochul said the toll was critical to making new investments in New York’s subway system and buses and would support $15 billion. in debt financing to improve mass transit.

Trucks and buses will pay up to $21.60 and there will be a 75% discount for traveling at night. The fee will be charged once a day regardless of how many trips are made for car owners, while taxis will pay 75 cents for a trip in the Manhattan zone and app-booked Uber or Lyft vehicles will pay $1.50 for each trip .

New York has said more than 700,000 vehicles enter Manhattan’s central business district daily, increasingly reducing travel speeds for years to currently around 7 mph.