New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s June 6 surprise announcement indefinitely postponing the launch of a congestion pricing plan for midtown and midtown Manhattan, a month before the $15 toll began per vehicle, has raised concerns about the future of New York City’s transit infrastructure. New Yorkers counted on the added revenue to support $15 billion in improvements to the aging system while reducing clutter and cleaning the air.
Congestion pricing would solve the problem of how to finance upgrades. It would fund the extension of the Second Avenue subway to East Harlem, elevators to bring the system closer to meeting federal accessibility laws, modernization of the signal and power system, and new buses.
Tolls, of course, are an imperfect solution, imposing costs that elected officials outside of Manhattan estimate at $3,600 to $5,000 a year for a typical commuter in the suburbs or surrounding neighborhoods. Any new version of the plan put forward must include exemptions for tourists and truckers to pay as much as possible, and withhold discounts for lower income earners, and there should be no exemptions for government employees.
Governor Hochul’s switch, just 14 months after she proudly supported the plan and touted the expected benefits, is politically transparent. Moderate Democrats in New York City, with a few exceptions, are echoing their renewed concerns about commuter burdens and the need to allow Manhattan’s business districts more time to recover from alarming vacancy rates. offices Some of the concern is genuine, but the real concern is alienating suburban voters.
Ridership has rebounded since the pandemic, though not to pre-pandemic levels, when more people used public transit each day to get to Manhattan’s central business district (1.3 million) than 143,000 who arrived by car. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s transit mobility review board says Manhattan’s revitalization depends on improving public transit, not car commuters.
Now is a good time to reconsider the state’s governor’s control over the MTA, an issue that became clear under Hochul’s predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, who during his last term ending in 2021 decided to in a sudden and impetuous manner that all engineers and contractors in the agency had to reduce their prices. . The governor appoints the chair and vice chair of the MTA board, four other board members plus those recommended by the mayor of New York City and surrounding county chief executives. Legislation to limit the governor’s role has been long overdue.
When it comes to improvements to the transportation system, the companies that need to do the work now have a much less clear idea of what resources they will have to design and build what is needed, and how quickly they will be allocated. But what is clear is that Governor Hochul’s decision to postpone congestion pricing and, consequently, the necessary infrastructure improvements, will inevitably increase project costs.
The sooner the stalled plan is put into effect, the better.
