Updated: May. 05, 2023, 6:57 p.m. | Published: May. 05, 2023, 5:32 p.m.

By Paul Liotta | pliotta@siadvance.com

Broadway in Manhattan is shown Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. (Staten island Advance/Paul Liotta)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Anyone driving into lower Manhattan will soon have to pay a hefty fee after the federal government okayed the state’s congestion pricing plan Friday.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Chief of External Relations John McCarthy issued a statement saying the agency had received a needed and long-awaited letter of legal sufficiency from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) saying they could move ahead with the controversial plan.

“Congestion pricing is a generational opportunity to make it easier for people to get around in, and get to, the Central Business District, by reducing traffic and funding improvements to the public transit system,” McCarthy said. “To do it right, environmental equity has been an integral component. We are grateful that the FHWA has acknowledged the project sponsors’ efforts to date and has found the document has met the standards for legal sufficiency.”

A spokesperson for the FHWA confirmed that the agency cleared the project’s sponsors in New York to move forward with congestion pricing that could charge motorists as much as $23 for entering Manhattan below 61st Street, an area officials call the “Central Business District.”

Opposition to the plan has reached across the political spectrum with some on the left raising concerns about the impact the plan would have on historically-disadvantaged communities, which could see more traffic as drivers shift to parts of the city, like the South Bronx, to avoid the toll. Those on the right label the plan as the latest unfair tax burden placed on residents in the metropolitan area.

On Friday, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/South Brooklyn), one of the plan’s harshest critics, issued her latest statement taking aim at President Joseph Biden, whose Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg oversees the FHWA.

“It’s disappointing but no surprise that the Biden Administration would help the MTA fleece New Yorkers with another $23 toll without even requiring a full and thorough environmental impact study for this first-in-the-nation program,” she said “We will be evaluating our options to protect the residents of Staten Island and Brooklyn from this cash grab and never-ending war on cars brought to us by the Biden Administration, Governor Kathy Hochul, and the New York State Legislature.”

Malliotakis has forged alliances across the aisle through her advocacy against congestion pricing, particularly with Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.).

Garden State officials, including Gottheimer and Gov. Phil Murphy, have been some of the most vocal opponents of the plan, because of the undue financial burden it would place on New Jersey residents entering lower Manhattan.

On Friday, Murphy, a Democrat, issued a statement calling the FHWA’s decision “unfair and ill-advised,” despite saying he supports the concept of congestion pricing.

“Since day one, I’ve stood against the disproportionate negative impacts of congestion pricing on New Jerseyans,” Murphy said. “Everyone in the region deserves access to more reliable mass transit, but placing an unjustified financial burden on the backs of hardworking New Jersey commuters is wrong. Simply put, it is a money grab.”

While officials across the Hudson raised concerns about the burden on working people, some government leaders in New York were all but giddy that the plan could move forward.

City Department of Transportation (DOT) Chief Communication Officer Nick Benson issued a statement applauding the FHWA decision.

“Our shared vision for congestion pricing will reduce traffic, improve air quality in our communities, and raise critical funding for our subways and buses,” Benson said. “This approval marks a significant step forward, and we will continue working with our partners at the city, state, and federal level to advance this nation-leading program, and deliver a safer, healthier, more equitable city.”

In a sure sign of Staten Island’s robust public transit system, which residents of the borough will need to use to get into Manhattan’s Central Business District without paying the toll, the tweet containing Benson’s statement followed the latest announcement from the DOT about reduced service on the Staten Island Ferry.

Congestion pricing in the U.S. will likely see its first iteration in Manhattan, but similar programs have been tried around the globe to mixed results.

The MTA pointed to congestion pricing in Stockholm, Singapore, and London as success stories that reduced congestion and improved travel times, but at least one of those programs hasn’t yet met with universal praise.

City Councilman Joseph Borelli (R-South Shore) has been a vocal local critic of congestion pricing across the pond, which has been in effect since 2003 but has faced continued scrutiny.

“This is a plan that has not worked in London. London has worse traffic than before, has failed to fund its public transit,” Borelli said Friday. “It’s a fail and it’s coming here because of climate zealots and the rubes at the MTA who build underground track miles for more money than any other city on earth and still demand more. I don’t blame people for giving up and moving. You can’t get ahead here.”

Talk of congestion pricing in New York dates back decades, but it became law as part of the $175 billion state budget approved in 2019. It tasked the MTA’s Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA) with developing the plan.

Since then, a series of delays have hindered the project, and, in February, the MTA pushed the expected implementation back to the second quarter of 2024.

In their most recent environmental assessment for the project, MTA officials shared seven potential tolling scenarios, with higher tolls rates, up to $23 during peak hours, in the scenarios that offer additional credits, caps and exemptions to certain vehicles.

Under all the scenarios described below, personal cars, motorcycles and commercial vans would be capped at one CBD toll per day, though other vehicles may be charged multiple times.

None of the scenarios outlined would provide an additional credit for drivers who cross the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge before moving into Manhattan, something the borough’s elected officials have pushed for since the program was first proposed.

All the scenarios, with the exception of one, would use the following time periods to determine peak, off-peak and overnight hours.

• Peak: Weekdays – 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Peak: Weekends – 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
• Off-peak: Weekdays – 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
• Overnight: Weekdays – 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
• Overnight: Weekends – 10 p.m. to 10 a.m.

The toll rates provided in the document would apply to personal cars, motorcycles and commercial vans using E-ZPass, with higher rates for those using the Tolls-by-Mail option.

Higher rates would also be charged to larger vehicles under the first six scenarios, with peak E-ZPass rates for small trucks ranging from $12 to $65 and for large trucks ranging from $12 to $82.

Representatives from the MTA have emphasized that tolling scenarios outlined in the environmental assessment are hypothetical, and if the program were to get federal approval, the Traffic Mobility Review Board would develop recommendations for toll rates, as well as any credits, discounts, or exemptions, and then present the recommendations to the MTA board for consideration.

Here’s a look at the seven tolling scenarios.

Scenario A – Base Plan

Credits: No credits for drivers using bridges or tunnels to access the CBD.

Caps and Exemptions: No caps or exemptions for taxis, for-hire vehicles, trucks and buses.

Peak Toll Rate: $9

Off-peak Toll Rate: $7

Overnight Toll Rate: $5

Scenario B – Base Plan with Caps and Exemptions

Credits: No credits for drivers using bridges or tunnels to access the CBD.

Caps and Exemptions: Taxis and for-hire vehicles would be capped at one toll per day; Trucks would be capped at two tolls per day; buses would be exempt from tolls.

Peak Toll Rate: $10

Off-peak Toll Rate: $8

Overnight Toll Rate: $5

Scenario C – Low Crossing Credits for Vehicles Using Tunnels to Access the CBD, with Some Caps and Exemptions

Credits: Credits of up to $6.55 for drivers using tunnels, but not bridges, to access the CBD.

Caps and Exemptions: Taxis would be exempt from tolls; For-hire vehicles would be capped at three tolls per days; Trucks and buses would not be capped.

Peak Toll Rate: $14

Off-peak Toll Rate: $11

Overnight Toll Rate: $7

Scenario D – High Crossing Credits for Vehicles Using Tunnels to Access the CBD

Credits: Credits of up to $13.10 for drivers using tunnels, but not bridges, to access the CBD.

Caps and Exemptions: No caps or exemptions for taxis, for-hire vehicles, trucks and buses.

Peak Toll Rate: $19

Off-peak Toll Rate: $14

Overnight Toll Rate: $10

Scenario E – High Crossing Credits for Vehicles Using Tunnels to Access the CBD, with Some Caps and Exemptions

Credits: Credits of up to $13.10 for drivers using tunnels, but not bridges, to access the CBD.

Caps and Exemptions: Taxis would be exempt from tolls; For-hire vehicles would be capped at three tolls per days; Trucks would not be capped; Transit buses would be exempt, with no cap on other buses.

Peak Toll Rate: $23

Off-peak Toll Rate: $17

Overnight Toll Rate: $12

Scenario F – High Crossing Credits for Vehicles Using Manhattan Bridges and Tunnels to Access the CBD, with Some Caps and Exemptions

Scenario F is the only scenario that would use different time periods to determine peak, off-peak and overnight hours, as listed below.

• Peak: Weekdays – 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• Peak: Weekends – 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
• Off-peak: Weekdays – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Overnight: Weekdays – 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
• Overnight: Weekends – 10 p.m. to 10 a.m.

Credits: Credits of up to $13.10 for drivers using tunnels or bridges to access the CBD.

Caps and Exemptions: Taxis, for-hire vehicles and trucks would be capped at one toll per day; Buses would be exempt from tolls.

Peak Toll Rate: $23

Off-peak Toll Rate: $17

Overnight Toll Rate: $12

Scenario G – Base Plan with Same Tolls for All Vehicle Classes

Credits: No credits for drivers using bridges or tunnels to access the CBD.

Caps and Exemptions: No caps or exemptions for taxis, for-hire vehicles, trucks and buses.

Peak Toll Rate: $12

Off-peak Toll Rate: $9

Overnight Toll Rate: $7