Archinect - News

New York could bring back congestion pricing under revised plan

2024-11-14T09:48:00-05:00

New York’s Governor Kathy Hochul has indicated the return to congestion pricing could be imminent before the new year. ABC7 reports: "Along with announcing a revised congestion pricing proposal, setting the base fare at $9 instead of $15, she is expected to discuss an alternate revenue source to make up for the lost $6, a 40% decrease in revenue."

The move comes after a last-minute pause right before its originally scheduled start in June and in anticipation of the second Trump administration’s return to the White House. The plan will ultimately work to alleviate the MTA's large budget deficits, which are projected to reach $900 million. Several lawsuits have attempted to halt it otherwise. Kate Wagner recently pointed to congestion pricing as an area for architects to invest their energies in as "agents of change."

Kate Wagner: Rescinding progress means architects must become the agents of change

2024-08-12T12:23:00-04:00

Organizing at the community level and putting pressure on politicians can go a long way, but it’s not enough. Architects have to start seeing themselves as political actors with high stakes in the same way communities and unions do. Architects are workers and they depend on work. The fight for climate justice, resiliency, and workers’ and tenants’ rights are only going to get harder in an era of political decay, cronyism, and systemic crisis.

The fight over congestion pricing and residential building retrofits in New York City are just a couple of the many flashpoints architects should involve themselves in heavily in order to better advocate for the profession, critic Kate Wagner writes. Rightly, she states, “The field’s most meaningful efforts to combat climate change are actually quite mundane.” Progress on a number of fronts, including the decarbonization of the building sector, is being either stalled or eroded at the hands of real estate and other interests. Now professionals face the choice of further subjecting their labor or pushing back via activism or other means.

New York Governor Hochul is being sued over decision to pause NYC congestion pricing plan

2024-07-27T11:00:00-04:00

Congestion pricing proponents want to see New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in court. A group of local advocates filed a pair of lawsuits against the governor on Thursday, claiming she lacked the legal authority to order the MTA to pause the Manhattan tolling program last month. It was originally scheduled to launch on June 30 until Hochul made an eleventh-hour declaration that it would not move forward.

It seemed as though the long debated congestion pricing program was finally on its way following the Federal Highway Administration's approval of the program in June of last year.

One of the lawsuits argues that NY Governor Kathy Hochul's move to pause the program is "lawless" as it violates the 2019 state law that originally authorized congestion pricing. The other legal challenge claims that her decision works against the need for improved air quality and greenhouse gas reductions that are required by law.

As reported by Gothamist, many fear that this stoppage in the congestion pricing plan could lead to the cancellation of the initiative entirely. Critics also believe Hochul's move was a political decision to appease voters in regions against congestion pricing. The above lawsuits are expected to go before a judge in September.

New Jersey sues to block NYC congestion pricing plan

2023-07-25T11:35:00-04:00

New Jersey took a significant step Friday as it seeks to block New York’s congestion pricing plan with a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Gov. Phil Murphy, standing behind a podium that read “FIGHTING AN UNFAIR CONGESTION TAX,” said at a morning press conference that he hopes the lawsuit triggers an environmental impact statement delaying the program.

New York City's new congestion pricing plan was finally approved on a federal level last month following years of debate that began under then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy told CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday that he wants to prevent pollution from the anticipated backlog of commuters, who are also out of alternatives still years ahead of the $11 billion Gateway Tunnel’s expected completion. The MTA is contesting his ability to challenge the congestion pricing plan in the first place.

Previously on Archinect: New York City's congestion pricing program receives federal approval

The friction between the city and its outlying communities, amplified by the pandemic, has taken a role in the discussions over office downturn, public transit, crime, and other issues. Several reports this week indicated Staten Island will also join New Jersey in suing the Department of Transportation. The MTA's capital projects and depleted ridership are the primary beneficiary of t...

New York City's congestion pricing program receives federal approval

2023-06-27T13:58:00-04:00

Congestion pricing in New York City has cleared its final federal hurdle, officials said on Monday, all but ensuring that the first such program in the nation will begin next year with the aim of reducing traffic and pollution in Manhattan and funding improvements to mass transit.

Following the Federal Highway Administration’s approval of the program, a local panel appointed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) will now work to determine final toll rates, including any discounts or exemptions.

A report released by the MTA last August revealed one proposal that would charge $23 for a trip during rush hour into Midtown Manhattan and $17 during off-peak hours. Initially approved by the New York State legislature in 2019, the program is expected to generate $1 billion per year for the MTA. This revenue will be directed toward improving New York City’s public transit network. The Authority says the program could potentially start in spring 2024.

Previously on Archinect: Congestion pricing in New York City set to become a reality by the end of 2023

As reported by The New York Times, opponents of the plan include the likes of taxi drivers and ride-share companies who believe the new tolls will cut demand for their services. In addition, some New Jersey...

Congestion pricing in New York City set to become a reality by the end of 2023

2022-03-18T17:02:00-04:00

Congestion pricing may be headed to New York City by the end of 2023. During a budget hearing with the New York City Council's transportation committee this week, MTA Director of Capital Program Management Steve Berrang revealed that the agency expects the federal government to approve the environmental review later this year, which will be followed by a year-long process of installing the congestion pricing infrastructure.

This plan, the country’s first ever congestion pricing law, is coming into fruition after it was initially approved by the state legislature in Albany in 2019 and then subsequently stalled by the Trump administration. The congestion pricing will include tolls for drivers entering Manhattan south of 60th Street. Gothamist reports that the fees for cars and trucks have not been determined, however, they could be $9 to $23 for EZ-Pass and more for tolls-by-mail.

Previously on Archinect: New York is moving forward with its controversial congestion pricing plan

The MTA aims to generate $1 billion in revenue annually with the law, in addition to $15 billion from selling bonds. The agency also estimates that congestion pricing will help prevent up to 17 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions and save $100 million in healthcare costs from reduced emissions. The revenue received from the tolls will go towards paying for the cost of constructing its infrastructure and New York City T...

New York is moving forward with its controversial congestion pricing plan

2021-09-24T12:13:00-04:00

New York City is moving forward with its plan to install the country’s first-ever congestion pricing law that would tax vehicles entering Manhattan south of 60th Street in an effort to raise money and reduce traffic in the heart of a city that’s home to more than 8 million people.

Construction Drive is reporting that the city government will renew public hearings next week for the scheme, which has been debated on and off since the heyday of the Bloomberg administration.

The controversial push was first approved by the state legislature in Albany in 2019 with the goal of generating over $1 billion a year in revenue, which in turn would help pay for a $51 billion MTA capital project that has since been suspended.

The measure is only beginning to move forward now after being blocked by the Trump administration for a period of years as part of an apparent spat between the executive branch and then-Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Related on Archinect: The War on Cars notches another victory ...

The War on Cars notches another victory in New York City

2019-08-09T14:30:00-04:00

Starting on Monday, cars will be all but banned from one of Manhattan’s main thoroughfares. The busiest stretch of 14th Street—a major crosstown route for 21,000 vehicles a day that links the East and West Sides—will mostly be off-limits to cars. Drivers will be allowed onto the street for just a block or two to make deliveries and pick up and drop off passengers. Then they will have to turn off.

Closing a stretch of 14th Street in Manhattan to most car traffic is but the latest step New York City officials has taken in recent years to wrest precious urban space from automobiles.

According to The New York Times, since 2008, the City of New York has installed 79 car-free pedestrian plazas across the city, and built 1,243 miles of bicycle lanes, including 480 miles of separated bike lanes.

The moves come as the city moves to institute a congestion pricing plan that would charge drivers to travel anywhere south of 60th Street in Manhattan.

New York moves ahead with congestion pricing

2019-04-01T19:01:00-04:00

More than a decade after New York came close to enacting the country’s first-ever congestion pricing program, it’s finally becoming a reality. A tolling structure for Manhattan’s central business district (CBD)—roughly defined as the area below 60th Street in the borough—passed as part of the FY2020 budget, as both a means for reducing the traffic that clogs city streets, and introducing a new stream of revenue for the perpetually cash-strapped MTA.

"New York’s congestion pricing move may also lead other cities to implement their own traffic surcharges—Boston, Los Angeles, and Seattle are among the municipalities that have been considering it," writes Curbed.

More roads won't ease traffic, but charging drivers more at peak hours will

2014-06-17T15:40:00-04:00

You can’t build your way out of congestion. It’s the roads themselves that cause traffic. The concept is called induced demand, which is economist-speak for when increasing the supply of something (like roads) makes people want that thing even more. [...] What [economists] Turner and Duranton (and many others who’d like to see more rational transportation policy) actually advocate is known as congestion pricing. This means raising the price of driving on a road when demand is high.