Manhattan launches $9 fee to ease traffic jams

WASHINGTON –

New York City drivers on Monday had to pay US$9 to enter Manhattan under the first such congestion fee in the U.S., which seeks to raise billions for mass transit and reduce traffic jams.

The fee went into effect on Sunday after New Jersey failed on Friday to convince a judge to halt it pending an appeal.

The city rushed to implement the charge before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. Trump, who has a Manhattan residence, opposes the fee and said he would seek to block it.

New York is imposing the $9.00 charge on passenger vehicles in the daytime in Manhattan south of 60th Street. Trucks and buses will pay up to $21.60. The fee is reduced by 75 per cent at night.

Charged via electronic license plate readers, private cars will pay once a day regardless of how many trips they make. Taxis will pay 75 cents per trip and ride-share vehicles reserved by apps like Uber UBER.N and Lyft LYFT.O will pay $1.50 per trip.

While New York is the first U.S. city to impose such a toll, London implemented one in 2003, and the fee is now 15 pounds ($19).

Sarah Kaufman, director of New York University’s Rudin Center for Transportation, said Monday that the experience of other world cities shows that the charge initially is very unpopular.

Then residents “began to appreciate the reduction in traffic and the increased transit services. So ideally, that’s what will happen here in New York,” she said.

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority said the program will result in 80,000 fewer cars a day, about an 11 per cent reduction, in what it called the most congested district in the United States.

More than 700,000 vehicles enter the Manhattan central business district daily, slowing traffic to around 7 mph (11 kph) on average. That is 23 per cent slower than in 2010.

The city estimates the congestion charge will bring in $500 million in its first year. New York Governor Kathy Hochul said the money would underpin $15 billion in debt financing for investment in subways, buses and other mass transit improvements.