NYC's congestion pricing pulls in US$48.6mil in first month

NEW YORK: New York City's new toll on motorists driving into Manhattan's busiest areas raised US$48.6 million (RM214mil) in its first month, as President Donald Trump is seeking to end the congestion pricing program just weeks after it began.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which manages the city's transit network, began charging drivers on Jan 5.

The amount of toll revenue collected between that start date and Jan 31 is in line with budgeted projections, Jai Patel, MTA's deputy chief financial officer, said in an interview.

The MTA anticipates the fee will bring in nearly US$500 million a year, or about US$40 million per month.

Taxis and for-hire vehicles account for about 20% of the revenue collected, with the remaining amount coming from passenger cars, trucks and other vehicles, Patel said.

Congestion pricing charges most motorists $9 to drive into the area south of 60th Street. It's the first such tolling program in the US and aims to reduce traffic and improve air quality.

So far, traffic has decreased. There were 2.6 million fewer vehicles south of 60th Street from the start of congestion pricing through Feb 17, a 10% drop, leading to traffic moving faster along Manhattan streets.

"It's in line with what we've seen both on the traffic side - we've seen the traffic reduction - and the revenues are coming in-line with what we were projecting when we did all the years of studies," Patel said.

Last month's tally resulted in US$37.5 million of net revenue after US$9.1 million of operating expenses and US$2 million were set aside for mitigation projects to help combat environmental issues outside of the tolled area, she said.

The tolling gantries continue to charge drivers even as Trump has moved to stop congestion pricing.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Wednesday sent a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul, saying the Federal Highway Administration would withdraw from an agreement with the MTA that gave the transit agency the authority to charge drivers.

The MTA immediately filed suit, seeking a court decision to stop Duffy's efforts.

Hochul suggested that Trump wasn't sympathetic when she discussed congestion pricing with him in a meeting Friday at the White House.

"I wanted to take my case to him directly, and let him see the benefits of this program because our city is paralysed with gridlock," Hochul said Sunday on CBS's Face the Nation.

"We had a path forward to be able to make the city move again, and it's working. I wanted to just have that opportunity to convey that."

Bond sale plan

The MTA plans in about a year to sell bonds that are repaid with congestion pricing revenue to finance US$15 billion of infrastructure upgrades that will replace subway signals and extend the Second Avenue subway to Harlem.

"If anything, it's made us feel good about the schedule we put out - that before we'd issue long-term bonds we'd collect revenue for about a year to really prove it out," MTA CFO Kevin Willens said about January's revenue collections from the new toll. "But, so far so good."

Officials expect congestion pricing will encourage people to use public transportation rather than driving to get into parts of Manhattan.

Paid ridership on the MTA's subways and commuter rail lines increased in January, with the agency collecting US$11 million more than budgeted in farebox revenue last month, according to MTA data.

It's unclear if that boost is because of commuters choosing transit over driving or a result of the agency's various efforts to reduce fare evasion.

Toll collections from the MTA's bridges and tunnels dipped slightly in January, down US$1.6 million, a 0.8% drop and below budgeted estimates, according to MTA data.