Here’s How The Congestion Pricing Pause Will Negatively Affect The NYC Subway
Just when NYC’s congestion pricing was about to go into effect Governor Kathy Hochul announced an indefinite, last minute pause to the program following concerns that it would “create another obstacle to our economic recovery.” And while some did oppose the program in the first place, the pause will unfortunately have negative effects on the NYC subway system.
NYC’s congestion pricing program was on track to be the first-ever in the nation. Under the program passenger driver vehicles entering the Central Business District (CBD) below 60th Street would be charged a $15 toll. The program was intended to reduce traffic in the city and generate funds to invest in public transit, among other things.
The money collected from the tolls was expected to generate $15 billion in transit investment, with 80% of the money being used to improve and modernize NYC Transit, 10% going to the Long Island Rail Road, and 10% to Metro-North Railroad.
Possible subway enhancements included improvements to elevators, signals, platform barriers, fare gates, and surveillance software as well as accessibility upgrades.
A portion of the revenue would also go towards rolling out more electric buses.
But now with an indefinite pause on the program, the money will no longer be available to the MTA for the time being. And while Hochul assured the state has some funds to counteract some of the sudden loss, the MTA has had to cut down its list of planned subway improvements.
And just one of the MTA’s projects now at risk is the Second Avenue Subway Expansion.
According to MTA Chair and CEO Janno Leiber, the agency’s main priority right now is just ensuring the transit system continues to operate safely, though the agency has been forced to shrink its current capital budget which could potentially affect day-to-day operations.
Lieber stated that the agency is prepared to “fight like hell” to avoid making service cuts that would make NYC’s transit system reminiscent of how dysfunctional it was in the 1970s and ’80s.
Lieber added at a news conference on Monday, June 10th:
For New Yorkers, mass transit is like air and water. We need it to survive. New York City and our 23-million-population region only works because we can move millions of people.
Transit activists, of course, are not happy with the potential service cuts and shrunken list of improvements.
Jaqi Cohen, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign’s director of climate and equity policy, stated that “The shift in focus prompted by halting congestion pricing ‘undermines the safety, reliability and sustainability of our transit system’ and is ‘a setback for New York’s transportation future,’” writes the New York Times.
As of now, Hochul and state lawmakers have not announced plans to make up for the $15 billion in revenue lost as a result of pausing the program, and there aren’t any leads on when (or if) the congestion pricing plan might actually go into effect.
Lieber, however, stated that he and and other officials are staying optimistic. He stated:
We have to prioritize a state of good repair that assures the safety of our transit system. We must make sure we squeeze out as much station accessibility work as possible, notwithstanding the shrinkage of our program…We are going to make sure that we are going to keep moving forward on the details of the congestion pricing program so we are ready if, and when we get the green light. We at the MTA are not giving up on congestion pricing, not at all.
An MTA board meeting is in place to be held this month on June 26th. A report on progress will be delivered at that time.
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