New York City Passes Congestion-Driving Fee

Yesterday, New York City’s City Council passed a plan to charge drivers who take to the roads in the most congested areas of the Big Apple. The proposal is the brainchild or millionaire mayor Michael Bloomberg and would charge drivers $8 to enter areas below 60th Street. That’s everything south of Central Park, including Times Square, Madison Square Garden and Greenwich Village. Those who live in that zone would not have to pay the fee, nor would taxis.

The charge would be deducted via an E-ZPass, and if a driver had already paid a toll that day via a bridge or tunnel it would offset the $8 congestion charge, so you wouldn’t pay two tolls trying to get to one destination in the new zone.   

This is the first plan of its kind in the U.S., but London has a similar system. New York City drivers still have to wait until the state legislature passes the bill, but if the city doesn’t enact the charge it will lose out on $350 million in federal funds for mass-transit improvements. That would be a pretty unpopular political move — though so would making folks cough up $8 every time they want to go to Radio City Music Hall.

City Council Approves Fee to Drive Below 60th (New York Times)