NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s new toll for drivers entering the center of Manhattan debuted Sunday, meaning many people will pay $9 to access the busiest part of the Big Apple during peak hours.
The toll, known as congestion pricing, is meant to reduce traffic gridlock in the densely packed city while also raising money to help fix its ailing public transit infrastructure.
“We’ve been studying this issue for five years. And it only takes about five minutes if you’re in midtown Manhattan to see that New York has a real traffic problem,” Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chair and CEO Janno Lieber told reporters late Friday after a court hearing that cleared the way for the tolls.
“We need to make it easier for people who choose to drive, or who have to drive, to get around the city.”
The cost to drivers depends on what time of the day it is and if drivers have an E-ZPass, an electronic toll collection system that’s used in many states.
Most drivers with E-ZPasses will get dinged the $9 fee to enter Manhattan south of Central Park on weekdays between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. and on weekends between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. During off hours, the toll will be $2.25.
That’s on top of tolls drivers pay for crossing various bridges and tunnels to get to the city in the first place, although there will be a credit of up to $3 for those who have already paid to enter Manhattan via certain tunnels during peak hours.
On Sunday morning, hours after the toll went live, traffic moved briskly along the northern edge of the congestion zone at 60th Street and 2nd Avenue. Some motorists appeared unaware that the newly activated cameras, set along the arm of a steel gantry above the street, would be charging them a $9 fee.
“Are you kidding me?” said Chris Smith, a resident of Somerville, New Jersey, as he drove against traffic beneath the cameras, avoiding the charge. “Whose idea was this? Kathy Hochul? She should be arrested for being ignorant.”
Phil Bauer, a surgeon who lives just above 60th Street, said he was hopeful the program would lessen the bottlenecks and frequent honking that comes from the nearby bridge connecting Manhattan and Queens.
“I think the idea would be good to try to minimize the amount of traffic down and try to promote people to use public transportation,” he said. “The Queensboro Bridge is pretty brutal.”
President-elect Donald Trump, a Republican, has vowed to kill the program when he takes office, but it’s unclear if he will follow through. The plan had stalled during his first term while it waited on a federal environmental review.