New York becomes 1st US city with congestion charge – USD9 for passengers cars entering Manhattan

New York has become the first city in the United States to implement a congestion charge scheme. Known officially as the Congestion Relief Zone Toll and activated on January 5, 2025, the scheme aims to ease the city’s notorious traffic problems as well as raise funds for public transportation.

Under the pricing plan, most passenger cars will pay USD9 (about RM40) when entering Manhattan’s central business district (CBD), which stretches from 60th Street all the way down to the southern tip of the Financial District, NBC reports. This is the peak fee that is applicable from 5am to 9pm on weekdays and 9am to 9pm on weekends, while the off-peak fee is 75% less at USD2.25 (RM10).

Meanwhile, small trucks and noncommuter buses will pay USD14.40 (RM65) to enter Manhattan at peak times and USD3.60 (RM16) off-peak. Larger trucks and tourist buses will pay USD21.60 (RM97) at peak times and USD5.40 (RM24) off-peak. Motorcylists pay the least at USD4.50 (RM20) at peak times and USD1.05 (RM5) off-peak.

Motorists will be charged once a day, although exemptions are made for emergency and government vehicles, low-income drivers, school and commuter buses as well as those with medical conditions that prevent them from using mass transit.

As reported by BBC, Janno Lieber, CEO of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), said four hundred lanes of traffic are now covered by more than 1,400 cameras, with more than 110 detection points and more than 800 signs.

The MTA is predicting 10% fewer cars and trucks after the toll begins and is promising to use the billions of dollars raised by the scheme to modernise public transport systems across the region. Naturally, there has been some pushback from various parties, including president-elect Donald Trump, who vowed to scrap the plan when he returns to the White House.

New Jersey also attempted to block the plan on environmental grounds with a lawsuit seeking tens of millions of dollars, claiming more environmental harm if traffic gets worse on the other side of the river – a judge denied this 11th-hour effort.

The concept of a congestion charge isn’t new in the US as it has already exists in San Diego, although this is highway-specific and applies to single-occupant vehicles that need to pay a per-trip fee when using high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes. This city-specific congestion charge is similar to what is done in Singapore, London and Stockholm. Malaysia has also mooted the idea of a congestion charge for Kuala Lumpur, although nothing of the sort has been implemented.

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