Testimony: Congestion Pricing Is Commonsense, Will Provide Broad Benefits to New Yorkers
Good morning. I am Rachael Fauss, Senior Policy Advisor for Reinvent Albany. We advocate for more transparent and accountable New York government. Members of our team have advocated for congestion pricing for thirty years and we continue to believe congestion pricing will provide enormous environmental and social benefits to millions of New Yorkers that go far beyond raising funds for the MTA.
Today is a good day for MTA riders, New York City, and the entire tri-state economy. We are extremely glad that Governor Hochul announced last week that congestion pricing will be moving onto New York City streets on January 5, 2025. We thank Governor Hochul, MTA Chair Janno Lieber, the MTA Board, staff and the many advocates who have championed congestion pricing – and particularly appreciate the perseverance and hard work of MTA staff to ensure that the program can turn on as quickly as possible. With the Board’s approval today of the revised toll plan, what we lauded as a major public policy victory in March 2024 is one step closer to full implementation.
Congestion pricing went through extensive public review and is designed to put fairness first so that special interest groups pay the same as the general public. Further, we note that most crossings into Manhattan have been tolled by the MTA and Port Authority for decades, and congestion pricing will create a far fairer and more sensible regional tolling structure.
Importantly, the revenues from congestion pricing are lockboxed and will go only to capital projects already approved in the 2020-2024 capital plan. Congestion pricing revenues will be bonded to create $15 billion in funding to improve the subway, buses, and commuter rail, and will support 100,000 good-paying jobs across New York State with local companies and for MTA union workers.
Going forward, we urge the MTA to lay out clearly for the public what impact the new tolling plan will have on the pace of the 2020-2024 capital plan, your bonding capacity, and your operating budget. We understand that the November financial plan will likely need an update, so we expect to hear more in December.
Lastly, we look forward to the MTA’s release of new open datasets that will allow the agency and public to continually monitor and assess how well congestion pricing is reducing traffic delays and generating revenue, and inform how it can achieve the best possible results.
Thank you for your consideration.