The MTA wrapped up nearly 40 hours of public hearings on congestion pricing last week, following the release of thousands of pages of research into a plan to charge drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street as much as $23.
The first-in-the-nation plan had plenty of backers, who cited the urgent need to fund mass transit, reduce pollution and improve New Yorkers’ quality of life. Many drivers and Manhattan residents who spoke at the meetings, however, were not in favor. In the hearings, opponents of the toll plan made recurring arguments – many of which are not supported by facts, statistics or research into gridlock and driver behavior.
Here are some of the most common misconceptions that emerged from a review of public hearings about the program.
MISCONCEPTION #1
Congestion pricing is an MTA “cash grab” and not about improving the environment
The MTA never said congestion pricing was exclusively about a new funding stream or improving the environment – it’s about both. State legislation passed in 2019 notes that the tolls will be set up “to ensure a safe and efficient mass transit system within the City of New York and to protect the public health and safety of New York’s residents.”
New York City has the worst traffic in the U.S., according to traffic analysis company INRIX. There were 700,000 vehicles per day south of 60th Street in 2019. If successful, congestion pricing could reduce cancer-causing airborne particles by 11% due to a reduction in traffic.
The tolling program was also created to fund the MTA’s $56 billion capital plan, its largest in history. The money will go toward improvements like a modern signal system for more lines, new elevators in stations, and new subway cars and buses.
MISCONCEPTION #2
This will be the nail in the coffin of the Midtown economy. Restaurants and other businesses will suffer because office workers will never return in-person.
Of the 7.7 million people who enter the congestion zone each weekday, only 24% of people arrive in vehicles, according to MTA research. Those roughly 1.8 million people will pay the congestion fee.
Recent research shows that people are staying away from Midtown offices – but not Midtown itself.
Office occupancy is a little more than 40%, according to July data from City Comptroller Brad Lander. But weekend subway ridership is closer to pre-pandemic levels than weekday ridership. Revenue from Broadway shows is about 88% of what it was compared to 2019. Airports are operating at about 91% pre-pandemic levels. The Alliance for Downtown New York declared in July that “hotel occupancy has improved markedly over the last year as business and leisure travel resume in New York.”
MISCONCEPTION #3
Costs of everything from groceries to home repair will go up
Several small business owners who spoke at the public hearings, including an electrician and a funeral home owner, vowed to pass congestion pricing costs on to customers. Just how much of an increase business owners will face is unclear because the price of the tolls has not been determined. The MTA also hasn’t decided whether drivers will be charged once a day or each time they enter or leave the zone.
Toll costs could also be offset by a reduction in traffic. The MTA estimates that drivers lose 102 hours of time, or $1,595 per year, per driver. The Partnership for New York City estimated in 2018 that gridlock would cost residents, businesses and commuters $5 billion over five years.
MISCONCEPTION #4
This unfairly penalizes residents who live south of 60th Street
Under the current plan, drivers are only charged when they enter or leave the zone. So, residents can drive freely within the zone. But according to a city survey from 2018, just 23% of Manhattan residents in the tolling zone own a vehicle.
Manhattan traffic has slowed to a miserable 7 miles per hour. Congestion pricing could improve travel times -- at a price.
MISCONCEPTION #5
This will disproportionately affect the disabled, people of color, low income drivers and the elderly
The Community Service Society, a staunch defender of low income and marginalized communities, backs the program, noting that only about 2% percent – or 5,000 people – living in poverty would have to pay the toll. The vast majority of low income New Yorkers use mass transit and will benefit from more investment in subways and less traffic for buses.
Across the Bronx, Queen, Brooklyn and Staten Island, only 4% of residents living in poverty would pay the toll.
MISCONCEPTION #6
The MTA just got $14 billion from the federal government. It doesn’t need more money.
It’s true, over the course of the pandemic the MTA received $14 billion in federal aid, which was used to keep the trains running when very few people were riding mass transit. At the height of the pandemic, the MTA was losing $200 million a week. But the MTA and city believed it was important to maintain service levels for essential workers during the pandemic.
The federal money is only to be used for operations, like keeping the trains operating – not capital projects or new investments.
MISCONCEPTION #7
The MTA is forcing people to use unsafe subways.
There’s no denying there were several horrific, high-profile crimes this year. From a woman fatally shoved in front of a train in Times Square, to a man shot and killed on a Q train on a Sunday morning. There was also a mass shooting on a Brooklyn N train that left 10 wounded.
Overall felony crimes on the subway are up by 53% this year, compared to last year, when ridership was very low.
But NYPD statistics show that crime rates between January and June are lower this year than anytime going back to 2014.
MISCONCEPTION #8
It’s not cars causing congestion, but bike lanes and dining sheds
There’s no evidence to back up this assertion. The dining sheds may cause vehicles to double park, blocking a lane of traffic, but that’s not the fault of the dining shed. Drivers are choosing to double park, rather than find another spot. After the Transportation Department installed bike lanes on Prospect Park West, traffic speeds actually increased slightly. Most analysts attribute the cause of slower traffic to Uber and Lyft rides, which added more than 86,000 vehicles to the streets. Manhattan traffic went from an average 9.1 miles per hour in 2010 to 7.1 miles per hour in 2019.
