🚇💰🚕 MTA Approves NYC Congestion Pricing, Taxi & Uber Surcharges Unchanged
MTA Board approves NYC Central Business District Tolling Program with previous $2.50 Uber/Lyft & $1.25 taxi trip surcharge remaining. Feds need to approve & lawsuits resolved, ahead of June launch
The MTA Board voted 11-to-1 to approve the final version of NYC’s Central Business District Tolling Program (CBDTP)
Infrastructure is already setup with congestion tolling beginning in June, pending federal government sign-off and outcome of several lawsuits
Previous recommendation of passenger paid, per trip congestion surcharge of $2.50 for Uber/Lyft trips and $1.25 for taxi & other non-app FHV trips, remained
Government entities might be collecting more money than Uber & Lyft on many of its NYC trips under newly approved plan
TLC-regulated commuter vans have full exemption, as recommended by the Traffic Mobility Review Board (TMRB) in December 2023
We share highlights from yesterday’s MTA Board meeting, specifically focused on yellow cabs and for-hire vehicles
“New York has more traffic than any place in the United States, and now we’re doing something about it.”
- Janno Lieber, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Chair & CEO
Yesterday , the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Board approved (11-to-1 vote) New York City’s Central Business District Tolling Program (CBDTP), commonly called “congestion pricing”. Congestion pricing aims to reduce traffic and raise billions for public transit improvements.
Most non-commercial drivers should expect to pay a $15 toll (5am to 9pm on weekdays, 9am to 9pm on weekends) or $3.75 during non-congestion hours, to enter Manhattan’s Central Business District (CBD). Manhattan CBD is defined as at or below 60th Street and excludes FDR Drive and the West Side Highway. Trucks, motorcycles and other vehicles are subject to other toll amounts. Only a handful of total exemptions were granted and included emergency vehicles, certain school buses, TLC-regulated commuter vans and certain government vehicles.
According to the MTA, it plans to begin charging tolls to enter at or below 60th Street in June and confirmed the tolling infrastructure is already setup around Manhattan.
Our congestion pricing coverage is focused on the City’s for-hire transportation (TLC) industry.
The final MTA Board approval yesterday was expected after the same board approved the Traffic Mobility Review Board’s (TMRB) tolling suggestions in December. Since that approval, a full exemption for medallion yellow cabs was the main focus of debate in the TLC industry.
Although advocates for Manhattan-centric yellow cabs fought hard for a total exemption and were supported by the Mayor’s Office, previously proposed surcharges remained. NYC taxis and traditional black car bases will have a $1.25 passenger paid surcharge per trip, while the City’s TLC-plated Uber and Lyft fleet will have a $2.50 passenger paid surcharge per trip.
NYC TLC Industry Congestion Toll Summary
⚫🟣 $2.50 additional surcharge per HV trip: To be paid by passenger (per trip) when they use “high volume (HV)” services (Uber, Lyft)
🚕🟢 $1.25 additional surcharge per taxi / non-HV trip: To be paid by passenger (per trip) for yellow cab, green taxi, non-HV black car, livery and luxury limo
🚐 Full exemption from additional congestion surcharges for TLC-licensed commuter vans: Commuter vans will not be subject to additional congestion surcharges. In addition, certain wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAVs) maybe exempt, but it does not appear to include TLC-plated WAVs.
The above surcharges are in addition to pre-existing MTA/congestion-related, passenger paid surcharges of $2.50 and $2.75 for taxis and TLC-plated vehicles used for Uber, Lyft and other NYC black car bases, respectively.
If the final congestion pricing plan is implemented in June:
NYC yellow cabs will be collecting, and passengers will be paying, $4.25 of MTA-related surcharges per trip (including the pre-existing $0.50 MTA State surcharge, but excluding the Taxi Improvement Fund (TIF) surcharge).
TLC-plated Uber and Lyft vehicles will be collecting, and passengers will be paying, $5.25 per trip in congestion fee-related tolls.
To be clear and technical, the new congestion surcharges will be on trips going into, going out of or occurring within Manhattan’s CBD. Unlike pre-existing congestion surcharges, it appears E-ZPass readers will charge the vehicle vs. a directly billed passenger surcharge. This might cause headaches for NYC TLC drivers and fleets related to E-ZPass compliance and direct debit toll amounts taken from drivers (i.e., drivers often have direct deposits put into their E-ZPass account based on a running average of toll amounts accrued).
We also wanted to briefly note that we’re not sure if the new NYC taxi and for-hire vehicle congestion surcharges apply to non-NYC for-hire vehicles which often enter Manhattan CBD (i.e., Westchester County TLC plates, Nassau County TLC Plates, New Jersey OL-plated vehicles that can pickup and drop-off in NYC, Newark taxi medallion cabs).
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MTA Board Meeting Highlights
How new, additional congestion surcharges impact NYC for-hire trip volumes is something two MTA Board Members and former TLC officials, who voted to approve the congestion pricing plan, wanted to specifically call out. During official MTA Board testimony (see video below), Board Member and a former TLC Deputy Commissioner Midori Valdivia and newly-confirmed MTA Board Member, former TLC Chair and current Deputy Mayor of Operations Meera Joshi, commented on tracking for-hire trip data. Both appeared open to adjusting congestion surcharges for yellow cabs if the data showed a significant impact on trip volumes.
"This is the day that the MTA has officially said to the yellow cab industry that you do not have a right to exist on the streets of New York City.”
- Bhairavi Desai, President, New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA)
"[We] all need to see the data once this operation starts…I’m also really interested in how this will impact the taxi industry…”
- Midori Valdivia, MTA Board Member (former TLC Deputy Commissioner)
“We remain concerned about the plight of taxi drivers…so I’d advocate for the State to re-examine the 2018 law that created the second congestion fee that’s on taxis as a pathway for possible relief, if necessary.”
- Meera Joshi, MTA Board Member (former TLC Chair and current Deputy Mayor of Operations)
“…[The] yellow cab industry in light of its [difficulties] it has experienced should have a much lower toll than for-hire vehicles, who have, to some extent, crowded them out of the market…”
- Janno Lieber, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Chair & CEO
how about without pax? do drivers still pay if we leave midtown?