New York is expected to install the first urban toll at the entrance to an American city in June. The objective of this direct tax of 15 dollars per passage levied at the entrance to the center of Manhattan, one of the five New York boroughs, is threefold: to relieve congestion on the main avenues and streets which irrigate the island from north to south and to is in the west, thus improving the air quality of the Big Apple and redressing the budget of the sprawling metro network in poor condition.
The board of directors of the city's public subway and commuter rail operator, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), voted Wednesday evening in favor of the toll by 11 votes to one.
The toll expected in mid-June
Its CEO Janno Lieber welcomed in a press release “one of the most important votes of the board” by assuring that “MTA was ready”. “One of the major objectives is to finally tackle traffic jams, but also, at the other end of the chain, to invest more in the public transport network,” he recalled.
MTA, which suffered a collapse in its ridership during the pandemic, hopes to reap a windfall of a billion dollars per year.
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If the federal state agrees and if administrative appeals from the neighboring state of New Jersey or taxis and VTCs do not block the project, in mid-June New York will be the first city in the United States to provide such a toll. Following the examples of London, Stockholm and Singapore.
Exemptions for emergency vehicles
Cars and vans entering from 60th Street in Manhattan and south from Queens and Brooklyn (across the East River) or from New Jersey (across the Hudson River) ) will have to pay 15 dollars during the day and 3.75 dollars at night.
Trucks and coaches will have to pay $24 to $36, while the famous yellow taxis will be able to add $1.25 to each trip, MTA said. Emergency vehicles will be exempt and low-income drivers, in a city with high inequality and hit by inflation, will be entitled to discounts.
The project dates back to 2007 when billionaire Michael Bloomberg was mayor. But the principle was only enacted in 2019 under the very left-wing former mayor Bill de Blasio, predecessor of Eric Adams, a center-right ex-police officer.
The municipality is trying policies deemed progressive, social and environmental and New York City is already surrounded by tolls on the expressways, bridges and tunnels serving its large suburbs.