NEW YORK — New York City is set to become the first American metropolis that seeks to ease traffic congestion, cut pollution and boost mass transit by charging motorists a hefty toll for the privilege of driving into its most crammed areas. So can it work?
If the experience of other cities around the world that have tried it is any indication, the answer appears to be yes. London, Singapore and Stockholm have all reported that “congestion pricing” systems similar to the one now being planned for Manhattan led to initial reductions in traffic and improvements in air quality, while creating a steady stream of revenue to support public transit and other infrastructure.
“New York is a prime example of cities where it tends to work, which is very high density, with relatively good public transportation” or at least the skeleton of a good system, said John Rennie Short, professor of public policy at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
But critical questions still to be resolved that could determine what the experiment ultimately looks like and whether it is successful, experts said.
New York has to work out details of the plan, which would use a network of license plate readers to bill vehicles for using surface roads anywhere in Manhattan south of Central Park. That includes the cost of the toll, which is likely to be more than $10.
Will the tolls raise enough money to make the city’s strained mass transit system reliable? Is there enough alternative transportation for commuters who decide to give up their cars? How will the tolling system affect the delivery trucks, taxis and ride-hail vehicles that now comprise a big proportion of Manhattan traffic? And will so many vehicles be made exempt from the tolls that the effect on travel is minimal?
Mitchell Moss, director of the Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management at New York University, predicted that in the end the city might see only a modest decline in traffic, as people either absorb the cost and keep driving, or switch to services like Uber and Lyft.
“We’re not going to see people abandon their cars to get into the subway.”
Primarily, he said, the system is likely to benefit the public transportation system, which now has a new source of revenue for much-needed repairs and upgrades.
“This is a terrific victory … for the mass transit ridership and for New York’s capacity to respond to the crisis of its mass transit system,” he said.
