What you need to know about NYC congestion pricing, the MTA plan to curb traffic and pollution and fund subway, bus, train infrastructure

The federal government’s decision last week to green-light the MTA’s environmental assessment of congestion pricing — a plan to toll motor vehicles on 60th St. and points south in Manhattan — virtually ensures the program will be implemented.

“New Yorkers want to know, what does this mean?” MTA chair Janno Lieber said Friday. “And the answer is less congestion, better air quality, safer streets, better transit. That’s what this policy means. That’s what congestion pricing is going to deliver.”

But many details about how congestion pricing will affect New Yorkers remain to be worked out.

When will congestion pricing start?

Most likely April 2024. The MTA’s release of the environmental assessment on Friday kicked off off a 30-day public appraisal period required by law.

If the federal government gives a final sign-off to the plan at the end of the 30-day period, work can begin on building the tolling infrastructure. The MTA has contracted with a firm called TransCore to build the equipment needed to charge drivers, and the company has 310 days to complete the project.

How much will it cost to drive into lower Manhattan?

We don’t yet know. The price is to be suggested by a six-member panel called the Traffic Mobility Review Board and ultimately approved by the MTA.

Lieber has said the toll will fall somewhere in the range of “$9 to $23.″ The documents released Friday commit to several discounts, including at least 50% off for drivers traveling between midnight and 4 a.m., and a 25% discount for drivers making under $50,000 after they’ve already made 10 full-price trips within a calendar month.

The Transit Mobility Review Board can begin meeting after the federal sign-off, which is expected to follow the 30-day public appraisal period. Those meetings will be public.

Where is the congestion zone?

Vehicles will be charged on on 60th St. and points south in Manhattan.

Exceptions to the congestion zone will include the FDR Drive, the West Side Highway, and the Battery Park underpass that connects the two. Surface-level portions of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel that connect to the West Side Highway will also be excluded.

How will it work?

Drivers will be tolled for entering the congestion zone once per day. Vehicles that remain overnight will be charged again on the day that they leave. A passenger car making multiple trips into the zone on a single day will only be charged once.

Tolls will be assessed electronically through E-ZPass.

What are the benefits?

Congestion pricing seeks to meet two needs at once.

One is to fund the MTA’s capital budget to the tune of $15 billion, to improve mass transit in the city and reduce commuters’ need to rely on private vehicles.

The other is to discourage the use of private vehicles in the busiest parts of Manhattan.

“Don’t forget — what’s congestion doing to us?” Lieber asked Friday. “Ambulances can’t get to hospitals. Police can’t get to crimes in progress. Fire trucks can’t get to fires.”

“[Congestion pricing is] going to protect people who are in our city from getting hit by cars,” Lieber said. He added: “It’s going to make sure that kids in the Bronx don’t have asthma at higher rates.”

The MTA’s environmental assessment claims the plan will reduce the number of vehicles in lower Manhattan by at least 10%.

Will traffic increase in neighborhoods outside the congestion zone?

Some communities are expected to see an increase in traffic — and resulting emissions — the MTA’s assessment says. Many of those communities are along highways drivers might use to circumvent the tolling zone. Most are in the Bronx, though others were identified in northern Manhattan, northern Brooklyn and New Jersey.

The MTA is putting $155 million toward pollution mitigation, according to the plan. Of that sum, $100 million will be spent on the communities deemed most at risk of pollution caused by diverted traffic. The plans include installing air filters in schools, planting new parks in communities and roadside vegetation along highways, and moving existing pollution sources in those communities towards greener technology.

The MTA will also fund an asthma center in the Bronx.

Is congestion pricing a done deal?

Almost.

Congestion pricing has taken a long time to put in place. The plan was approved by the state Legislature in 2019 — but federal officials slow-walked it during Donald Trump’s presidency. It finally moved ahead after President Biden took office in 2021.

The plan requires one last nod from the feds before it can proceed — a “finding of no significant [environmental] impact,” which can only be issued following the 30-day public appraisal period that began Friday.

Some politicians in New Jersey — who argue that their constituents will bear the brunt of the monetary cost as well as experience increased congestion from diverted traffic — have said they’ll fight congestion pricing during the appraisal period.

Garden state Gov. Phil Murphy last week said his administration was “closely assessing all legal options” to halt congestion pricing.

Lieber was unfazed this week, however.

“There probably will be some lawsuits, but this has been the most extensive review process maybe in history — certainly for a project of this kind,” Lieber told reporters at a Thursday briefing ahead of the assessment’s release.

“I’m confident that this 4,000 page document will stand up to scrutiny.”