2 minute read
Effectively Implementing Congestion Pricing in NYC
By Sam Schwartz, A TYLin Company
In a three-part blog post series from Sam Schwartz, A TYLin Company, our city planning experts Mike Flynn, AICP, Senior Principal and New York General Manager, and Melvin Wah, AICP, Senior Planner, reflect on congestion pricing. This topic is especially timely as New York City potentially becomes the first American city to enact an areabased congestion toll on vehicles. Parts 1 and 2 are linked below. Part 3 will be published in the coming months.
Part I Ready for a Restart: In this post, we look at what happened to congestion pricing beyond politics, and what could be improved in the future when we finally decide to implement it.
Many transit riders, advocates, and public servants had been eagerly anticipating June 30th, 2024, the day that the city’s congestion pricing program was supposed to begin. In the wake of New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s announcement of an indefinite pause to this bold policy, supporters are back in the familiar position of waiting for leadership to reduce traffic and create a stable funding stream to benefit eight million daily transit riders. Read more.
Part II A New Vision: In this post, we examine what a compelling transportation vision might look like that includes congestion pricing as a key component, as well as transformative projects that could be part of this holistic transportation strategy.
No one likes to feel penalized, especially by additional fees associated with daily habits like their commute. The additional cost of driving into the city, added to concerns over inflation and rising living expenses, can feel like an unfair burden. As a policy that has concentrated costs to a very small portion of the region’s population, but diffused benefits to a much larger group, congestion pricing faces a significant challenge when it comes to building public support.
