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By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh
On Monday, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority released data showing that New York’s congestion pricing toll raised $48.6 million during its first month. As reported by the NY Times, the January revenue puts the plan at a strong start, exceeding expectations and on track to raise billions of dollars for much needed repairs and upgrades in public transportation.
The M.T.A. had expected to collect an average of $40 million per month in the program’s first phase. The first month’s revenue will be used to pay for $11 million in expenses spent to set up the tolling cameras and other related expenses as well as environmental projects targeting urban pollution due to altered traffic patterns.
Already, there is $37.5 million left that can be applied toward funding repairs in the transit system, said Jai Patel, the M.T.A.’s co-chief financial officer. “We feel really good about that,” Ms. Patel said, noting that the revenue goals for the toll, which began on Jan. 5, were met in less than a full month.
The data gives the congestion pricing plan a boost, even as President Donald Trump has moved to nix it. The Republican president has moved to fulfill his campaign promise by revoking the plan’s federal authorization, granted through the Department of Transportation, arguing that the toll hurts local businesses. The M.T.A. swiftly filed a lawsuit to stop the revocation, and has vowed to keep the tolls intact.
Per the Times, on Friday, Gov. Kathy Hochul met with President Trump to defend the toll. She presented a slide show, stating that traffic has improved, and that commercial office leasing, Broadway attendance, and foot traffic have increased despite the toll. She also showed off a recent survey indicating that a majority of frequent drivers into Manhattan support the toll.
The toll, which covers Manhattan south of 60th Street and which charges most passenger cars $9 a day during peak hours, has already achieved its stated goal of lowering traffic and speeding up travel times for those who do pay the tolls. In its first three years, congestion pricing is slated to bring in roughly $500 million annually in revenue. The price of the toll is slated to increase in 2028 to $12 for most drivers, and to $15 in 2031. The first price increase is expected to up annual revenue to $700 million, and the 2031 increase will bring cash flow up to $1 billion annually, as per the M.T.A.
The M.T.A. hopes to raise some $15 billion for crucial transit repairs and upgrades. Stated projected include modernizing subway signals, some of which were installed back during the Depression era; making stations more accessible for persons with disabilities; and extending the Second Avenue subway line to East Harlem, as per the NY Times. The toll revenue will not be used directly, rather will be utilized to issue municipal bonds and borrow more money to fund the projects. Work has already begun to replace subway signals on parts of the A and C lines in Brooklyn, and to purchase some new commuter trains.
The legal challenge posed to congestion pricing by the White House may work to make the project riskier in the eyes of investors, and may make it more expensive for the M.T.A. to borrow money.
