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TRANSPORTATION


MONEY GRAB? STUDY SAYS NYC CONGESTION PRICING WILL GENERATE WAY MORE REVENUE
THAN REQUIRED


2-MINUTE READ

Colleen Wilson
NorthJersey.com


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The congestion pricing program that would charge drivers who enter midtown and
lower Manhattan could generate around $3.4 billion a year — well above the $1
billion annual revenue the MTA is required to generate by law, according to an
analysis conducted by New Jersey's biggest opponent of the toll plan, U.S. Rep.
Josh Gottheimer.

"Our findings on the extent of New York's greed are frankly astonishing and
galling," Gottheimer said Thursday. "This just proves that New York’s congestion
tax is nothing but a cash grab."

A six-page report from the Democratic congressman used vehicle crossing data
from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Traffic Mobility Review
Board's report and the Metropolitan Transportation Council's Hub Bound Travel
Data Report to break down estimates of the number of vehicles that could get
tolled at each crossing during peak and off-peak hours on weekdays and weekends.



Gottheimer's team predicts the bulk of the revenue, around $2.5 billion, will
get raised during weekdays and another $840 million on weekends. The $3.4
billion estimate included the $5 credits proposed at four crossings, including
the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's
prediction that vehicle traffic will decrease 17% once the new $15 toll goes
into effect, expected to happen this spring.

Story continues below photo gallery





The MTA did not respond to numerous questions about whether or not they have
done an analysis of how much revenue it expects to generate from the program and
did not deny Gottheimer's report findings. The agency has not publicly provided
any information about how much revenue it expects to generate based on the newly
released congestion pricing recommendations.



"Gridlock Gottheimer still thinks more cars, more congestion and more pollution
is the answer to the region’s clogged streets, and here he is again with yet
another publicity stunt fighting for the status quo and to keep ambulances, fire
trucks, and delivery vehicles stuck in traffic," said John J. McCarthy, chief of
policy and external relations at the MTA.

The Port Authority could also lose around $83 million a year due to the fewer
vehicles at the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, according to the report — a concern
Gottheimer has noted could impact the bistate agency's capital plan.




REDUCE CONGESTION, IMPROVE AIR QUALITY, RAISE REVENUE

Congestion pricing is designed to toll drivers that enter the most congested
portion of the city, midtown Manhattan below 60th Street, except for those who
remain on the perimeter highways.

The goals of the program are to reduced congestion, improve air quality and
generate $1 billion a year for the MTA's public transportation capital program.



A Traffic Mobility Review Board was created to recommend how to design the
program, including what the tolls should be, whether credits should be granted
to drivers already paying tolls and whether any drivers should be exempt from
the tolls.

The board published its recommendations in November, though one member resigned
in advance of the publication after making numerous complaints about MTA CEO
Janno Lieber being too focused on "the revenue generation side of the new
tolling system and he doesn’t care about reducing congestion,” according to the
New York Post.

Voice your opinion:Public hearing dates for MTA congestion pricing toll plan
announced

Increased traffic?:Could GW Bridge traffic increase from congestion pricing?
Here's what one report said

The board recommended a $15 toll for those with E-ZPass at peak hours on
weekdays and weekends, $22.50 for those without E-ZPass at peak hours on
weekdays and weekends, $5 credits for those who use the Lincoln Tunnel, Holland
Tunnel, Queens-Midtown Tunnel or Hugh Carey Tunnel, $3.75 toll off-peak between
9 p.m. and 5 a.m. on weekdays, and $3.75 toll off-peak on weekends between 9
p.m. and 9 a.m.

There are different rates for trucks.

Rates can also go up on "gridlock alert days" when traffic in the city is
expected to be worse than usual.



Even with the $5 credit and reduction for having an E-ZPass, New Jersey drivers
crossing at the Lincoln and Holland tunnels will face the $10 congestion pricing
toll plus the newly raised $15.38 E-ZPass peak hour toll rate from the Port
Authority at either of those tunnels.

That's well more more than the collective $17 drivers will pay at the Hugh Carey
and Queens-Midtown tunnels and $15 in tolls New York drivers will pay if they
get to Midtown Manhattan using free bridges like the Third Avenue and Queensboro
bridges.




MORE TRAFFIC FOR FORT LEE, GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE?

The disproportionate tolling costs perpetuated by congestion pricing could
exacerbate "toll shopping," critics argue, which is congestion caused from
drivers who go out of their way to use the cheapest crossings instead of the
most direct route to their destination.

Residents of Fort Lee, for example, are concerned that more trucks and cars will
flock to the George Washington Bridge and increase traffic there to avoid the
congestion charge, which is among the allegations raised in a lawsuit filed last
year.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy's administration also filed a lawsuit last year
accusing the Federal Highway Administration of violating federal law by not
requiring a more thorough environmental review of the congestion pricing
program.


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