NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board on Wednesday permitted congestion pricing charges in what its chairman mentioned is “one of the vital votes” the board has ever undertaken.
Emotions ran excessive on the board assembly. A mixture of folks pleaded for mercy within the type of exemptions and decrease charges, whereas others mentioned after years of preventing the time had lastly come to enact the controversial plan.
After the five-year debate and approval course of, which generally moved with matches and begins, the MTA board permitted the tolls drivers pays to enter Manhattan’s Central Business District beneath sixtieth Street.
The payment construction is as follows:
- Cars pays $15 to enter Manhattan at 61st Street and beneath in the course of the day, and $3.75 at night time
- Motorcycles pays $7.50 in the course of the day and $1.75 at night time
- Trucks pays between $24-36 in the course of the day and $6-9 at night time
- Taxi drivers will see a $1.25 surcharge per trip, whereas Uber and Lyft drivers pays $2.50
Several teams of drivers will probably be exempt, nearly all of that are authorities staff.
Those exemptions will probably be made for any bus firm with a Department of Education contract, together with public, personal and constitution faculty buses. About half of town’s fleet of 26,000 automobiles are additionally exempt, and personal commuter buses. However, public workers who drive personal automobiles to work, like first responders and academics, have been left off the exemption listing.
“Getting one thing huge completed is tough,” MTA CEO Janno Lieber mentioned.
It was tough proper up till the very finish. MTA police barricades ringed the building. The place was crawling with cops. But even with all of the precautions, two units of demonstrators bought contained in the board room.
Just earlier than the ultimate vote, yellow cab drivers, who don’t need their passengers to pay an additional $1.25 congestion payment, confronted the board, saying, “Exempt the yellow cabs now.”
But with the MTA determined for the $1 billion per 12 months congestion pricing will usher in for fixing the ailing transit system, the vote was overwhelmingly in favor.
Long Island board member David Mack was essentially the most vocal naysayer.
“My concern is a vibrant metropolis popping out of COVID, the emptiness price of workplace buildings, the foremost corporations leaving New York and going south,” Mack mentioned.
Congestion pricing was signed into legislation by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who lately did an about face, saying now is not the time to make it harder for drivers coming to New York City. Board member Norman Brown voted in favor, with a parting shot at Cuomo.
“I needed to thank, truly, ex-Gov. Cuomo sooner or later for pushing this by way of, however within the quick time period his help has gone the opposite approach. But I’m hoping in 5 years from now Andrew Cuomo is bragging, ‘I put this factor in. I drove a stake into congestion in Midtown, Manhattan,'” Brown mentioned.
MTA officers hope to implement the plan in June and say many of the infrastructure has already been put in, however the rollout might be delayed due to a number of ongoing lawsuits. Hearings are scheduled for April 3 and 4 in New Jersey, adopted by a listening to in Manhattan Federal Court on May 17.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy made it clear he is nonetheless hoping to place the kibosh on it.
“This is much from over and we are going to proceed to battle this blatant money seize. The MTA’s actions immediately are additional proof that they’re decided to violate the legislation in an effort to steadiness their finances on the backs of New Jersey commuters,” Murphy mentioned.
Late Wednesday, there was one other downside. Rockland County Executive Ed Day filed swimsuit to cease the plan. His appointee to the board had argued that whereas the MTA has grand plans for bettering the system with the congestion money, there may be nothing for Rockland County.
