Traffic into Manhattan drops 7.5% in first week of new toll. That’s 43,000 fewer cars a day
NEW YORK– A new toll The number of drivers entering the core of Manhattan resulted in a modest but measurable reduction in traffic on New York City’s heavily closed streets during the first week of operation, according to preliminary data released Monday by the state’s transit authority.
Known as “congestion pricing”, the first-in-the-nation program launched on January 5, collecting $9 from most passenger cars entering the city under Central Park during rush hours, and higher fees on trucks and other vehicles. In the days since, overall traffic in the toll zone fell 7.5% — or about 43,000 cars per day — compared to the same period last year, Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said.
“Just look out the window: there’s less traffic, quieter streets, and we think everyone has seen it,” said Juliette Michaelson, the MTA’s deputy chief of policy and external relations. “Traffic patterns are already changing and will continue to change.”
The program, first proposed decades ago, is intended to bring in billions of dollars in revenue for the cash-strapped MTA while easing traffic congestion on city streets. It follows similar initiatives in London, Singapore and Stockholm, where traffic also fell immediately after tolls came into effect.
The effect in New York was most pronounced during the morning rush hour, with travel times at certain intersections — including the typically traffic-heavy Holland and Lincoln tunnels that run under the Hudson River from New Jersey — dropping by 40% or more. Michaelson said.
Despite anecdotal reports of fuller train cars, she said the agency had not clocked a noticeable increase in subway ridership, largely because the base ridership — more than 3 million per day — is so high. However, a handful of bus routes from Brooklyn and Staten Island had seen an increase in ridership the week before.
Within the congestion zone, the immediate impacts were more mixed. While traffic has decreased on some thoroughfares, other routes have remained largely the same. According to MTA data, a Midtown crosstown bus was widely mocked as New York’s slowest bus saw its running time cut by just a minute. And there has been little noticeable change during overnight hours, when the passenger car toll drops to $2.25, officials said.
Bob Pishue, an analyst at INRIX, a traffic data analysis company, said the MTA’s initial data matched findings from the company, which compared drivers’ GPS data before and after the program’s launch.
“Fewer people are coming into Manhattan, but we don’t yet see a significant impact on speeds within the zone,” he said. “Some rides are faster, some slower.”
He cautioned against drawing broad conclusions after just a week, noting that many drivers were likely taking a wait-and-see approach.
Congestion pricing has sharply divided residents of New York and neighboring areas, prompting protests from many motorists threats of sabotage and viral videos on how to avoid the fee.
Congestion charging advocates have hailed its launch as a transformative moment for a city struggling with worsening traffic and an aging public transit infrastructure in desperate need of upgrades.
The program was initially scheduled to launch in June, but was halted at the last minute by New York Governor Kathy Hochul. The Democrat, once a supporter of the program, said her position changed after conversations with “ordinary” New Yorkers, including a Manhattan restaurant owner who worried the toll would discourage customers entering from New Jersey.
Hochul later revived the program, but at the lower price of $9 for most drivers, down from the $15 rate initially approved by the state.
Tarek Soliman, the owner of Comfort Diner in downtown Manhattan, said he had spoken directly to the governor about his fear of losing New Jersey customers. Although he said it was too early to say whether the program had hurt business, the new fee was already having at least one impact on him.
“Every weekend I would drive to the garage next to the restaurant,” Soliman, a resident of Astoria, Queens, said by phone Monday. “Now I don’t drive anymore. I’ll take the subway.”