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Congestion toll takes effect, costing NYC commuters $9 to drive below 60th Street - as drivers rip plan and trash Hochul
By Rich Calder, Priscilla DeGregory, Georgett Roberts and Hannah Fierick
Published Jan. 5, 2025, 12:00 a.m. ET
1.3K Comments
Motorists heading into some of Manhattan's busiest neighborhoods have begun shelling out a first-in-the-nation $9 congestion toll - a controversial
levy critics contend will drive people out of Gotham and devastate the local economy.
The scheme officially took effect at midnight on Sunday, meaning drivers entering the city below 60th Street will now have to pay $9 during peak
hours - 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends - and $2.25 for off-peak hours.
During peak hours, large trucks will pay $21.60, small trucks $14.40 and motorcycles $4.50.
A general view of heavy vehicle traffic on the FDR Drive at E81st Street in New York, NY on July 16, 2022.
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Motorists heading into Lower and Midtown Manhattan are now forced to shell out a first-in-the-nation $9 congestion toll.
Christopher Sadowski
One of the first motorists to pay the toll, a man who declined to give his name, seem resigned to pay the price.
"There's nothing we can do. They already decided, there's nothing we can do," he said, after going through a toll reader near the Lincoln Tunnel.
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Another driver, when informed he had just missed the last chance to enter Manhattan congestion-toll-free declared: "Right now ?!" "Ahhhh."
Earlier on Saturday drivers ripped the plan and trashed Gov. Kathy Hochul, hours before the scheme went into effect.
"We pay a lot of money to live in this formerly wonderful city, that has taken some hits recently, and I think it's terrible to be charging people
that pay taxes who live here extra money when they cross 61st St," said Samantha Popper, a 44-year-old stay-at-home-mom who lives nearby.
The New York Post Front Cover on Jan. 5, 2025.
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The New York Post Front Cover on Jan. 5, 2025.
"It's infuriating that in just another day we'll be charged a hefty toll just to cross 61st, which is just in my neighborhood," she added.
Her message to Gov. Kathy Hochul: "work a lot harder" to keep New Yorkers here and don't 'try to run them out of the city by up-charging them."
Brian Anderson, a 42-year-old information technology specialist, said he lived in the city for over a decade but moved to New Jersey five years ago
after being clocked in the face and knocked unconscious while reading a book on the subway.
Drivers entering the city below 60th Street will now have pay $9 during peak hours.
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Drivers entering the city below 60th Street will now have pay $9 during peak hours.
William Miller
He said he moved specifically to avoid using mass transit but now realizes that might no longer be an option financially.
"I'll probably will be taking NJ Transit more often, and that's no fun," he said.
"Otherwise, it's gonna cost me $30 to $40 just to get to the other side of the Hudson."
Lyft driver Jose Siera ripped the scheme as a "money grab."
"The tolls are going up also, bridges, they're raising the prices also. It's gonna suck," he said.
The congestion pricing plan officially took effect at midnight on Sunday.
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The congestion pricing plan officially took effect at midnight on Sunday.
William Miller
And Uber driver Luigi said 'the whole thing is a scam"
"People are not going to be driving their vehicles into the city," he said.
"The taxi drivers, the Uber drivers, we are gonna put this cost on them - so you are punishing them."
Not everyone opposed paying the price. An Uber driver named Hussain, who was one of the first motorists to pay the toll near the Lincoln Tunnel after
midnight, told The Post: "I drive an Uber, and I think it will be good for us so we have less traffic."
Hochul and the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority raced against the clock to impose the toll before President-elect Donald Trump takes
office on Jan. 20. He has ripped congestion pricing as the "most regressive tax known to womankind."
Trump joins the 51% of New Yorkers opposed to the controversial tax, while 29% support it, and another 20% are unsure, according to a Siena College
poll earlier this month.
Drivers are seen at the exit of the Lincoln Tunnel on Jan 5, 2025 the first day of Congestion pricing for cars coming into Manhattan.
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Drivers are seen at the exit of the Lincoln Tunnel on Jan 5, 2025 - the first day of Congestion pricing for cars coming into Manhattan.
William Miller
"This cash grab will only hurt commuters' wallets and our local economy, and I'm already hearing from tons of people who say they'll never go to
Manhattan again, which will certainly have an impact on restaurants, the theater and small business," said Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten
Island/Brooklyn).
The MTA claims the tolls are necessary to reduce pollution caused by gridlock and to raise $15 billion for mass transit upgrades, such as extending
the Second Avenue subway, signal improvements and buying hundreds of new electric buses.
The agency is providing a $3 credit for passenger cars with EZPass that enter the toll zone through the Lincoln, Queens-Midtown, Hugh L. Carey or
Holland tunnels during peak hours.
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Drivers earning less than $50,000 can apply for a 50% discount for all trips after the first 10 in a calendar month.
The architects hope the plan will push more drivers to use public transit - but the rollout comes after 10 people were murdered in the subway system
last year.
Opponents such as Susan Lee urged the MTA to first modernize the system and make it safer.
The agency is providing a $3 credit for passenger cars with EZPass that enter the toll zone through the Lincoln, Queens-Midtown, Hugh L. Carey or
Holland tunnels during peak hours.
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The agency is providing a $3 credit for passenger cars with EZPass that enter the toll zone through the Lincoln, Queens-Midtown, Hugh L. Carey or
Holland tunnels during peak hours.
William Miller
"I try to only go on the subway during rush hour because it's not safe," said Lee, a Chinatown activist and president of New Yorkers Against
Congestion Pricing Tax.
The $9 "entry fee" would devastate Chinatown and other toll-zone neighborhoods such as Little Italy and the Lower East Side by driving up delivery
costs and making travel too expensive for customers, she warned.
And the scheme has been met with fierce opposition by working-class commuters - including teachers and cops, firefighters and other first responders
- who say they will unfairly have to bear the financial cost of the added tolls.
map shows all of the bridges and tunnels surrounding Manhattan that will begin to be tolled on Sunday, Dec. 5, 2025, as well as the toll amounts for
each
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Neighborhoods closest to the 60th Street tolling zone are expected to be upended with nightmarish gridlock.
SEE ALSO
MTA holds cheery ceremony to unveil congestion pricing signs - hours before drivers are set to feel the pain
There's at least 10 pending lawsuits opposing congestion tolling, but experts have said it'll be more difficult to put the brakes on it once it's up
and running.
A federal judge on Friday shot down New Jersey's emergency request to stop the new tolling program, and an appellate panel upheld the rejection
Saturday.
The congestion tolls began slamming drivers the same day the Port Authority also raised prices for its bridges and tunnels.
For most vehicles, the new PA tolls will go up from $15.38 to $16.06 during peak hours, and $18.31 without E-ZPass.
Including congestion tolls, drivers traveling into Manhattan from New Jersey through the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels will ultimately have to shell
out $22.06 during peak hours and $31.81 if they don't have E-ZPass.
Hochul abruptly paused the program before it was set to launch in June with a $15 toll following outcry from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries
(D-NY) and other pols who said it could doom Democratic candidates in suburban House seats.
MTA CEO Janno Lieber unveils the congestion relief zone signs on Jan. 4, 2025.
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MTA CEO Janno Lieber unveils the congestion relief zone signs on Jan. 4, 2025.
MTA
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She waited until after November's general election before caving into the demands of car-hating environmental groups and other extremists before
pushing her reduced $9 tolling scheme, which is scheduled to jump to $12 for most vehicles in 2028 and $15 in 2031.
The tolls are the first of their kind in the US, but London and some other cities around the world have rolled out similar programs.
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