Manhattan Congestion Pricing Hits a Nerve as Hearings Open
- MTA hosts first of six virtual public hearings for input
- Plan calls for charging some motorists as much as $23 in tolls
Traffic moves on 2nd Avenue in New York.
Photographer: Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images
If for-hire vehicles are required to pay additional tolls under New York City’s proposed congestion pricing plan, “thousands of drivers will lose their life savings,” Aziz Bah, the organizing director of the guild that represents over 80,000 drivers in the city, said Thursday night during the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s first public hearing on the plan.
The virtual hearing marked the first of six that the MTA is hosting to collect input from the public on the plan’s tolling scenarios for vehicles entering the Manhattan central business district. The plan, which could go into effect as soon as the end of 2023, would charge some motorists as much as $23 to enter Manhattan south of 60th street.