In an effort to lessen traffic, enhance air quality, and earn money for the city’s public transportation system, New York will press through with its pioneering proposal to charge vehicles additional tolls to enter the city’s center.
The initiative, which is anticipated to start in the spring of 2024, will put New York City, one of the most crowded cities in the country, on par with locations like London, Singapore, and Stockholm that have adopted programs of a similar nature.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is in control of the long-stalled project, will decide what cost will be assessed to motorists entering Manhattan south of 60th Street.
According to a spokesman for New York Governor Kathy Hochul, the Federal Highway Administration’s approval of the congestion pricing scheme marked the initiative’s passage through the federal government’s final barrier.
The final toll charges are still subject to approval by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which also regulates the city’s trains, buses, and commuter railroads.
Hochul, a Democrat, said in a statement, “With the federal government’s approval, we look forward to moving forward with the implementation of this program.”
According to an environmental assessment study provided by authorities in August, under one of many tolling scenarios, vehicles may be charged up to $23 per day in an effort to reduce the number of people using the route.
According to that research, the tolls would bring in an estimated $1 billion in yearly income, which would be used to pay for borrowing to expand the city’s public transport networks.
Congestion pricing was conceptually authorized by the state Legislature back in 2019, but the project was put on hold due to the coronavirus epidemic and a lack of direction from federal authorities.
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