43K fewer drivers on Manhattan roads after congestion pricing turned on, MTA says
The launch of congestion pricing led to some 43,000 fewer drivers on average entering Manhattan below 60th Street each weekday last week than would be typical for that time of January, according to data released by the MTA on Monday. The data comes just over a week after the tolls went live.
The decline in traffic only amounts to a 7.5% reduction compared to projections based on Januarys from the last few years, before congestion pricing was activated. Under the projections, an average of 583,000 drivers would enter the toll zone each day. But such a reduction, many people in Manhattan have observed, can be the difference between flowing traffic and gridlock.
“It has been a very good week here in New York,” MTA deputy chief Juliette Michaelson said at a news conference. She cautioned that congestion pricing had only been in effect for eight days and that traffic patterns could change.
Traffic times on all inbound crossings — like the Williamsburg Bridge and the Holland Tunnel — have decreased between 30% to 40% on average, particularly during the morning commute, according to the MTA’s data.
