Biden Administration Approves First NYC Congestion Pricing Plan For Drivers That Would Add $23 A Day On Top Of Existing Tolls

The Biden administration has approved the first NYC congestion pricing plan that would let drivers be charged $23 to enter Manhattan’s central business district.

Biden Administration Approves First NYC Congestion Pricing Plan For Drivers That Would Add $23 A Day On Top Of Existing (PHOTO Yahoo News)

The First Congestion Pricing Plan

The final environmental assessment has been authorized by President Joe Biden for New York City’s congestion pricing plan for public comment.  This is a move prior to the project that can be green-lit and it’s finally going to work now.

A letter that authorizes the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority environmental assessment was administered by the Federal Highway Administration in an effort to implement the plan which is announced in 2019 to improve the traffic and provide funding for mass transit by using tolls to manage traffic in central Manhattan.

As well as a draft “Finding of No Significant Impact” that will now be up for public review for 30 days before the federal agency makes its final determination., according to a copy of the letter obtained by POLITICO.

Moreover, the approval of the NYC Congestion Pricing plan is a move that will provide the green light to start charging drivers entering central Manhattan at peak times in an effort to cut down on gridlock.

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority estimates that the duration of the plan to build and it would take at least a year to set up the new tolling infrastructure once it obtains federal approval, putting it on track to meet its current target of launching congestion pricing in the second quarter of 2024.

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New Jersey Democrats Slam Biden Administration About The NYC Congestion Pricing Plan 

New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy said that the NYC Congestion Pricing Plan is  “unfair and ill-advised.” Murphy also said that since the beginning he stood against the disproportionate negative impacts of congestion pricing on New Jerseyans which he called a  greater financial burden on New Jersey commuters. Because this could mean that there will be double tolling for drivers, toll shopping, outsized environmental burdens on certain North Jersey communities, and NJ TRANSIT will experience lesser revenues.

Also for Port Authority’s capital budget will have a greater impact on their finances. Although Murphy supports the NYC congestion pricing plan but called it “misguided.”

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