First US congestion pricing scheme brings dramatic drop in NY traffic
New Yorkers are cruising much faster along Manhattan’s bridges and tunnels since their city implemented its long-debated congestion pricing plan early this month, according to newly available traffic data.
Morning rush-hour speed from New Jersey through the Holland Tunnel, a main route under the Hudson River into Manhattan, has almost doubled to 28mph compared with a year earlier. Evening speed over the Manhattan Bridge to Brooklyn has increased from 13mph to 23mph.
If these trends hold, motorists willing to pay the $4.50-$14.40 toll to enter the congestion zone in the centre of the US’s busiest city will save thousands of hours per year they currently waste crawling through smoggy tunnels or over clogged bridges.
New York’s congestion-pricing scheme, which went into force on January 5, is meant to cut traffic and help fund $15bn in sorely needed improvements to local mass transit.
The toll applies to vehicles entering a “congestion relief zone” below 60th Street in Manhattan, a chunk of the island that includes Midtown, Greenwich Village, SoHo and the area around Wall Street. Most passenger cars entering the zone now pay a $9 toll, while trucks pay $14.40 and motorcycles, $4.50. Some autos, including emergency vehicles, are exempt.
