New York has become the first city in the United States to implement a congestion charge for drivers entering the city's overcrowded areas, according to Interfax-Kazakhstan citing the Financial Times.
The fee for traveling through southern Manhattan during peak traffic hours (from 5 AM to 9 PM on weekdays and from 9 AM to 9 PM on weekends) will range from $9 per day for passenger cars, $14.4 for small trucks, and $21.6 for larger vehicles.
The New York Department of Transportation anticipates that the introduction of this charge will reduce the number of cars entering southern Manhattan by approximately 10%, as well as generate $15 billion for public transportation development.
City officials had planned to implement the congestion fee for entering Manhattan as early as summer 2024; however, they faced opposition, including from the state of New Jersey, which attempted to block New York's decision through legal action, seeking compensation for the potential exacerbation of transportation and environmental issues on its side of the Hudson River.
The traffic monitoring platform Inrix has named New York the most congested city in the world in 2023. According to Inrix's estimates, drivers spend an average of 101 hours annually in New York traffic jams, with the economic cost of congestion to the local economy amounting to $9.1 billion.