The MTA is expected to approve a congestion pricing tolling plan Wednesday, ahead of a June launch for the program — barring a judicial ruling favoring New Jerseyans or others who oppose the plan.
With much back-and-forth since then-Mayor Mike Bloomberg first proposed the idea of congestion pricing 14 years ago — including some last-minute tweaks announced this week — Gothamites can be forgiven if they’ve lost track of exactly how the transit authority plans to make congestion pricing work.
But the Daily News is here to help.
How much will it cost to drive a car into the congestion zone?
Under the plan before the MTA’s board, the toll to enter Midtown and lower Manhattan will be $15 — for most motorists, in most vehicles, most of the time.
Drivers entering through an already-tolled crossing — the Holland, Lincoln, Brooklyn-Battery or Queens-Midtown tunnels — will receive a $5 discount making the congestion toll $10.
All drivers will receive a 75% discount off the regular toll overnight, between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. That means that during those hours, the fee for cars will drop from $15 down to $3.75. But during those hours, the $5 tunnel discount will not apply.
The discounts and base tolls will scale depending on the size of the vehicle. Motorcyclists’ base toll will be $7.50, and their tunnel-crossing credit will be $2.50.
Small box trucks will be charged $24, while big rigs will rack up a $36 base fee.
Transit and commuter buses — whether operated by the MTA, another public agency, or a private company — will be exempt from the toll, so long as they are open to the public and run on a regular schedule. Examples include long distance bus service like MegaBus or the Hampton Jitney, as well as smaller TLC licensed commuter vans.
School buses under contract with the city’s Department of Education will also be exempt.
All other buses, be they private intercity charters or employee shuttles, will be tolled as trucks according to their size.
Specialized municipal vehicles, like garbage trucks and street sweepers, will be exempt, as will emergency vehicles. MTA officials have said they will also exempt city-owned cars used by various city inspectors and agency officials who need access to the congestion zone.
Will motorists be charged every time they drive into the congestion zone?
For most drivers, no. Under the plan, most motorists would be charged only once a day for entering the congestion zone. Cars, small vans and pickup trucks that drive in and out of the zone several times a day — for instance, a courier making multiple delivery runs in and out of the zone — will only be charged once.
The system will reset at midnight, MTA officials said. That means drivers who enter the zone in the early morning hours — before 5 a.m. on a weekday — would be charged only the 75% discounted overnight rate that day.
But there’s a big exception for larger vehicles, such as trucks and non-exempt buses, which will pay the toll at a higher rate than passenger cars. Under the plan, they will be charged each time they enter the zone.
The system will work differently for taxis, Ubers, and other for-hire vehicles. Cars with Taxi and Limousine Commission plates will pay a surcharge on every hired trip into or out of the congestion zone that will be added to customers’ fares.
If drivers will only be charged when they enter the congestion zone, why are cameras installed on roads leading out of it?
Attentive New Yorkers have noticed congestion tolling cameras positioned above roads leading out of the zone — or even out of the city, such as at the entrance to the New Jersey-bound tube of the Holland Tunnel.
While MTA officials did originally float the idea of charging motorists for days spent within the congestion zone — and assessing that time by tracking when vehicles leave the zone — the agency has since decided to only charge tolls upon entry.
But MTA officials have told The News that outbound cameras remain necessary to track congestion pricing’s overall effect on traffic patterns, a legal requirement of the program.
How will the tolling system work?
The tolling system is expected to work much like the system already in place on area bridges and tunnels. In fact, it’s been built by the same firm that set up cashless tolling for MTA bridges and tunnels, Nashville-based TransCore.
Vehicles with an E-ZPass transponder will be picked up by E-ZPass receivers on the tolling gantries, which will log the transponder’s unique identifier and charge it a toll. Drivers without E-ZPass will be tolled by mail using license plate cameras.
The camera/receiver network will also determine when not to toll someone.
What if I’m driving through the zone to get somewhere else?
The West Side Highway, the FDR Drive, and the Battery Park Underpass — the tunnel under the battery that links FDR Drive to the West Side Highway — are all deemed to be outside the congestion pricing zone.
A driver who rounds the horn of Manhattan on the highways from the Upper West to the Upper East sides will not be charged a congestion toll.
If you enter Manhattan at the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and drive directly up to the Upper East or Upper West sides north of 60th St. without leaving the highways, you also will not be charged.
The same goes for the Brooklyn Bridge — so long as a driver sticks to the off-ramp leading directly to the FDR drive.
MTA officials tell The News that the camera system will make sure that vehicles making such trips are not charged.
How far along is the tolling system’s construction?
The $550 million project to install TransCore’s cameras throughout Manhattan is largely complete, and the system is currently undergoing a series of tests.
MTA officials have stated in court that they expect to turn on the tolling network in mid-June.
