The new toll for drivers entering Manhattan’s center started this Sunday, which means many people will pay 9 dollars to access the busiest part of the Big Apple during peak hours.
The toll, known as a congestion fee, aims to reduce traffic jams in the densely populated city while also raising money to help repair its deteriorating public transportation infrastructure.
Most passenger car drivers will pay $9 to enter Manhattan south of Central Park between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekdays, and on weekends between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. During off-peak hours, the toll will be $2.25 for most vehicles.
After years of studies, delays, and a final attempt by New Jersey to stop the toll, the program was launched without major setbacks early on Sunday. However, transit officials warned that the scheme, the first of its kind in the nation, may require adjustments and probably wouldn't face its first real test until the workweek.
"This is a toll system that has never been tested before in terms of complexity," said Janno Lieber, President and CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, at a press conference held at Grand Central Terminal on Sunday. "We do not expect New Yorkers to change their behavior overnight. Everyone will have to adapt to this."
The fee, which varies for motorcyclists, truck drivers, and app-based trips, will be collected through electronic systems at over 100 detection sites now scattered throughout the lower half of Manhattan.
This adds to the tolls that drivers pay to cross several bridges and tunnels to get to the city in the first place, although there will be a credit of up to 3 dollars for those who have already paid to enter Manhattan through certain tunnels during peak hours.
On Sunday morning, hours after the toll went into effect, traffic was moving quickly along the northern edge of the congestion zone on 60th Street and Second Avenue. Many drivers seemed unaware that the newly activated cameras, located on the arm of a steel gantry over the street, would soon send a new charge to their E-Z passes.
Some local residents and transportation users, meanwhile, said they were hopeful that the program would reduce traffic jams and frequent honking in their neighborhoods, while also helping to modernize the metro system.
"I think the idea would be good to try to minimize the amount of traffic and encourage people to use public transportation," said Phil Bauer, a surgeon who lives in downtown Manhattan, describing the constant traffic noise in his neighborhood as "quite brutal."
The president-elect Donald Trump, a Republican, has promised to eliminate the program when he takes office, but it is not clear if he will do so. The plan was stalled during his first term while a federal environmental review was being conducted.
In November, Trump, whose Trump Tower is in the toll area, said that the fee "will put the city of New York at a disadvantage compared to competing cities and states, and businesses will flee."
Other major cities around the world, including London and Stockholm, have similar schemes, but this is the first one in the United States. Supporters of the idea point out that the programs were largely unpopular when first implemented, gaining approval as the public began to experience benefits such as faster bus speeds and less traffic.
In New York City, even some public transportation users expressed skepticism about a plan aimed at raising funds for the subway system.
"With my experience with the MTA and where they have allocated their funds in the past, they have done a pretty bad job with that," said Christakis Charalambides, a supervisor in the fashion industry, while waiting for a subway on Sunday morning in lower Manhattan. "I don't know if I'll really believe it until I actually see something."
The toll was supposed to go into effect last year with a $15 charge, but Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul abruptly paused the program before the 2024 elections, when electoral campaigns in suburban areas, the epicenter of opposition to the program, were considered vital to her party's efforts to regain control of Congress.
Shortly after the elections, Hochul restarted the plan with a lower toll of 9 dollars. She denies that the reason was political and insists that she thought the original charge of 15 dollars was too high, even though she had been a strong supporter of the program before pausing it.
The fee also survived several lawsuits seeking to block the program, including a recent effort by the state of New Jersey to have a judge temporarily halt it. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, a Democrat, has vowed to continue fighting against the scheme.
In response, Lieber described the New Jersey governor’s views as the “definition of hypocrisy,” adding that he hoped the state would adjust its strategy after “losing again and again and again” in court.