The MTA board voted on Wednesday to approve a slate of congestion pricing tolls for vehicles that enter Manhattan below 60th Street, initiating a 60-day public comment period that puts the agency on track to begin collecting the fees late next spring.
An MTA advisory panel called the Traffic Mobility Review Board recommended the toll structure last week, and the MTA board voted nine to one in favor of those recommendations. Only one member, David Mack, who represents Nassau County, voted against the measure. The tolls impose a $15 fee on passenger vehicles that enter the zone from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends.
“This is an important moment for the MTA,” said MTA Chair Janno Lieber.
The vote represented a breakthrough for congestion pricing, which New York officials have proposed in one form or another for more than 50 years. The stakes are high for the program. Congestion pricing has been successfully implemented in other countries. But the MTA’s program represents the first effort in the United States to impose a fee to reduce gridlock.
The tolling scheme includes few exemptions. The MTA says additional exemptions would raise the cost of the base fare. The program is required by law to generate $1 billion a year.
Drivers who make $50,000 or less a year won’t have to pay for their first 10 trips into the zone each calendar month. Emergency vehicles, vehicles transporting people with disabilities and drivers who live in the congestion zone and make $60,000 or less per year are exempt. Drivers who remain on the West Side Highway or the FDR Drive will also avoid the charge.
The board signed off on a $5 credit for passenger vehicle drivers who already pay tolls to use the Lincoln, Holland, Queens-Midtown and Brooklyn-Battery tunnels.
Small trucks, buses and vans face a $24 charge during those hours, while large trucks, including big rigs, will have to pay $36. Motorcycles will be tolled a $7.50 daytime fee.
Passenger vehicles and…
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