Congestion pricing finally has a start date

New York’s first in the nation congestion pricing tolls will launch on June 30, two sources familiar with the schedule told Crain’s Friday.

The long-anticipated launch date marks when most drivers will be charged a $15 daytime toll to enter Manhattan below 60th Street, which is expected to generate billions of dollars for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to improve the region’s mass transit and reduce traffic.

Transit officials also on Friday opened an online application portal for motorists to apply for the authority's coveted discounts for low-income drivers, those with disabilities and other limited exemptions.

Under state law approved in 2019, congestion pricing is designed to collect $1 billion in annual tolls that the MTA will bond to $15 billion toward infrastructure upgrades for the city’s subway, buses and commuter rails.

It will be cheaper for motorists to drive at night. There is a 75% discount on the tolls between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. on weekdays, and 9 p.m. Friday through 5 p.m. Sunday, dropping the toll to $3.75. 

Drivers traveling into Manhattan through already-tolled crossings — the Holland, Lincoln, Brooklyn-Battery or Queens-Midtown tunnels — will receive a $5 discount, reducing the fee to $10 during the day. During those overnight hours the $5 tunnel credit won’t apply. The credit also does not apply to motorists crossing the George Washington Bridge, which is north of the congestion pricing zone.

Commercial trucks will be charged between $24 and $36, depending on their size, to encourage commercial drivers to shift their operations to overnight when the fees are cheaper.

For cabbies, the MTA will add a $1.25 surcharge to the fares of yellow and green cabs, while a charge of $2.50 will be added to trips through rideshare services such as Uber and Lyft. Those fees will be passed onto passengers.

The $550 million effort by MTA contractor TransCore to install cameras along the perimeter of the congestion pricing zone is all but complete. However, lawsuits filed by New Jersey officials and other detractors hoping to stall or defeat the program are pending.