At an economic summit held in Ireland last month, New York Governor Cathy Hochul boasted. Describes her state’s decades-long effort to implement so-called congestion pricing in New York City. Within just a few months, an extensive toll system was ready to go into effect, charging cars and trucks between $15 and $36 once a day to enter Lower Manhattan. Hochul has pledged to drastically reduce carbon emissions in one of the most congested regions in the country and provide much-needed funding for the most extensive public transportation system.
“It took a long time because people were afraid of a backlash from drivers who got in their way,” she said in her speech. “We have to get over it.”
However, in the end, it seems that Hocheol himself could not overcome this fear. On Wednesday, the governor announced he was suspending his soon-to-debut program “indefinitely.” In doing so, she “advocates not only for road readiness policies to improve quality of life in New York City.”Nation-leading climate plan” This is one of the Governor’s signature initiatives.
In fact, New York’s ambitious climate goals – to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 and 85% by 2050 – predate the current governor. The state passed a landmark climate law in 2019, but its success has been unclear since then. That’s because it depends on many factors beyond the state’s control, including efforts to complete a major wind farm off Long Island and build transmission lines for carbon-free hydroelectric power. and renovating thousands of old and inefficient buildings across New York State.
government is one thing could do But what we could control was congestion pricing. This plan, after years of consultation, modeling and research, has been validated with confidence that it will dramatically reduce automobile traffic in New York City, ease congestion and reduce air pollution from vehicle exhaust pipes. The toll policy, modeled after successful programs in London and other European cities, has come a long way from being approved since then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg began promoting it in 2007. Rigorous environmental review and political debate. Then on Wednesday, Hochul ordered the Metropolitan Transit Authority to “suspend indefinitely” the program, saying it would place an “undue burden” on drivers and add “another burden on middle-class New Yorkers.”
The sudden decision reportedly attempted to: Court voters in contested congressional districts In the city’s outer suburbs, more than a decade of groundbreaking climate policy is all but doomed. (The governor’s office did not immediately respond to Grist’s request for comment Wednesday afternoon.) It also left many transportation and climate advocates rudderless and blurred the state’s path to meeting its already weak climate goals.
“We can’t address climate change without solving transportation,” said Sarah Lind, co-executive director of Open Plans, a New York City-based urbanism advocacy group. “It would be a huge mistake to cancel this in terms of our approach to climate change. “We need a Democratic governor to be a leader on climate change, but she’s just caving.”
In fact, transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in New York State and the second largest source, right behind New York City buildings. It’s also the biggest source of air pollution from harmful tailpipe chemicals like nitric oxide and carbon monoxide, which cause asthma and other lung and heart diseases.
that much MTA’s Program Analysis They found that congestion pricing would reduce traffic into Lower Manhattan by about 17 percent and reduce the city’s overall carbon emissions by about 1 percent by reducing gasoline consumption by drivers using public transportation instead of driving. This effect would have been most pronounced in downtown Manhattan, where the policy would have reduced greenhouse gas pollution by more than 11%.
The policy was also expected to promote a virtuous cycle in the city. The MTA estimated it would collect about $1 billion a year in tolls and planned to use those funds to issue $15 billion in bonds for capital work on aging New York. A widely used public transportation system. Upgrades and expansions of subway and bus systems would have encouraged more residents to use public transportation rather than drive.
Similar congestion pricing systems have achieved air quality improvements in places such as London, Singapore and Stockholm, while reducing carbon emissions: About 10% When we launched a paid program. recent analyze Of the 16 systems, these systems were found to “provide local governments with a relatively cost-effective tool to implement sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.”
Despite this data, congestion pricing has had many opponents, including in New Jersey. Democratic Governor Phil Murphy to Republican State Representative On Long Island. Many of these opponents called a $15-a-day congestion tax a regressive tax on low-income drivers in outer boroughs and suburbs. The MTA’s analysis found that these concerns were overblown. According to the agency, New York City has only 5,200 residents. These are people who commute to Manhattan by car and live more than half a mile from public transportation. The agency also promised toll waivers for low-income drivers, but estimated that that category only includes 18,000 drivers across the New York metropolitan area, home to more than 20 million people.
The plan has also drawn criticism from some. Community Advocates in Outer Boroughs Those like the Bronx and Staten Island, who argued that disrupting traffic to Manhattan would increase the pollution burden in nearby areas. The MTA found that this increase would be minimal. He promised to ease it. Taking steps such as electrifying diesel trucks in polluted areas such as Hunts Point Food Market in the Bronx.
But as the policy moves closer to becoming a reality this year, most politicians and interest groups in New York have begun supporting it. Even the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), a powerful lobbying group that has supported Hochul, expressed disappointment with her decision to eliminate the toll program.
“Congestion pricing will deliver environmental and transportation benefits that will make New York City more competitive on the national and international stage,” REBNY President James Whelan said in a statement. “Delays in implementation should only be for a limited period of time,” he said.
In a pre-recorded video announcing his decision, Hocheol said, “There is never only one way forward.” In fact, Lind says there are other steps New York can take to reduce transportation emissions. Cities can restrict freight traffic to certain periods of the day. Barcelona and Rome Otherwise, driving in residential areas may be restricted. But the state’s best weapon in curbing driving is the MTA itself, and it’s hard to imagine the beleaguered agency upgrading its subway and bus systems without billions of dollars in additional costs from congestion pricing.
