Improving Your Work: Making Changes to Toll Credits

The MTA’s Traffic Mobility Review Board recommendation for congestion pricing to charge vehicles driving south of 60th St. is mostly right for a $15 fee, but the MTA can and should make some changes. Mayor Adams and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s suggestions should not be included in the exemptions. The MTA should alter the size of the toll credit for the four tunnels into Manhattan, but there is no similar argument regarding the two Hudson River tunnels, the Lincoln and Holland, run by the Port Authority. Other changes should be made around the timing of the congestion fee, making it free in the dead of night, and extra high during peak of the morning rush hour. New York has limited space to operate private vehicles in Midtown and Downtown, so charge drivers accordingly, on a sliding scale. We are almost there, making for a better ride for drivers and better transit for everyone.