Hudson Valley leaders react to possible $15 congestion pricing toll to drive into Midtown
Rockland County Executive Ed Day's takeaway from the the recently revealed congestion pricing scheme to charge $15 for drivers to enter Midtown Manhattan? "An insult."
The reaction comes on the heels of a draft report obtained by the USA Today Network in New Jersey.
Congestion pricing: Drivers may have to pay $15 to enter midtown Manhattan under draft plan
Drivers who head into Midtown below 60th Street would be hit with the $15 toll, according to November's draft report from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Traffic Mobility Review Board.
Earlier predictions had put the Midtown toll around $23, but some officials in the Lower Hudson Valley were still rankled.
A big sticking point: The exclusion of a toll credit for drivers who use the George Washington Bridge to get to Manhattan.
Only drivers who use the Lincoln and Holland, Hugh Carey and Queens-Midtown tunnels would get a daytime toll credit of $5.
The discount discussion has focused on crossings that link directly to Manhattan, taking the Cuomo Bridge crossing at the Tappan Zee off the table.
West-of-Hudson 'value gap'
Day said that the toll discount plan is "blatantly exclusionary" to west-of-Hudson commuters.
"At a minimum," Day said, drivers deserve credit for the George Washington Bridge crossing tolls.
Day said many residents of Rockland are excluded from the benefit of a one-seat ride via commuter rail, making it more convenient to drive to the city. That includes a significant contingent of New York City police and firefighters.
Rockland already experiences a $40 million "value gap" from the MTA, meaning the amount of local taxes and other revenue poured into MTA coffers is higher than the value of MTA services provided within the county.
And there's no plan to change that with the expected windfall from Midtown tolls, Day said.
Opposition in NJ, Congress
Day's not the only west-of-Hudson official blasting the plan. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has called the process opaque, ill-conceived and unfair.
U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican whose district includes all of Rockland and Putnam counties plus a portion of Westchester and Dutchess, has opposed congestion pricing and panned the draft plan.
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Lawler and a bipartisan coalition of Congress members introduced legislation called the Anti-Congestion Tax Act. He also co-chairs the House Anti-Congestion Tax Caucus. "I will continue working with my colleagues to stop congestion pricing dead in its tracks," he said.
Like Lawler, state Sen. Bill Weber, a Republican who represents most of Rockland, likened congestion pricing to another new tax for suburbanites.
Seeing some positives
The toll set at $15 was viewed as a positive by Joan McDonald, Westchester's director of operations. A toll as high as $23 had been floated in earlier iterations.
She also lauded a cap on charging the toll just once a day, no matter the number of trips.
McDonald demurred at the idea that Westchester leadership was supportive of congestion pricing. Instead, she said, they have been realistic about the need.
"We know that the MTA has a hole to fill in their capital budget," said McDonald, the state's commissioner of transportation during the Andrew Cuomo administration. "And we also know that the congestion has significant negative health impacts and economic impacts that go into the city."
With three Metro-North lines and Bee Line bus service directly to the 242nd Street NYC subway station, McDonald said many Westchester residents "do have good options for transit."
Gov. Kathy Hochul has supported some level of congestion pricing.
Next steps
The next step: A review by the MTA board at its Dec. 6 meeting.
Then a series of virtual and in-person public hearings, with a 60-day comment period, will be held.
After reviewing public input, the MTA board will schedule a vote on whether to adopt the tolls.
The Midtown congestion pricing plan is expected to start in 2024.
"There's still a lot of time in the process," said Lisa Daglian, executive director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA.
As for west-of-Hudson concerns, Daglian said, "That's a conversation that needs to continue."
Details of report
Other details in the draft report include:
Motorcycles would be tolled $7.50.
Trucks would be charged a $24 or $36 toll in the congestion zone depending on their size.
For-hire vehicles and taxis would charge customers $2.50 and $1.25, per ride, respectively.
Low-income vehicle owners who qualify could receive a 50% discount on the daytime auto toll after the first 10 trips made by that vehicle in a calendar month.
Tolls would be charged for vehicles only when entering the zone, not leaving it.
Passenger vehicles, motorcycles and automobiles with commercial license plates would be charged only once per day.
Tolls overnight — between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. — would be reduced 75%.
Cashless tolling, with overhead gantries reading E-ZPass transponders, will be used to collect tolls.
Toll exemptions would be available for vehicles carrying people with disabilities, certain emergency vehicles and buses or commuter services vehicles.
The tolling zone doesn't include the highways on the edge of Manhattan.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Congestion pricing for Midtown Manhattan revealed Hudson Valley reacts
