Gov. Kathy Hochul, together with MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber and Mayor Zohran Mamdani, have fun the one-year anniversary of congestion pricing in Manhattan. Monday, Jan. 5, 2026.
Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
On the one-year anniversary of congestion pricing on Monday, Gov. Kathy Hochul declared that this system has yielded “extraordinary” leads to lowered visitors and elevated financial exercise, “beyond what we could have expected.”
“We changed how people in this great city and the region live, how they breathe, how they act, and now the results are in,” Hochul mentioned of this system’s impression.
Hochul additionally famous that the once-fervent opposition to congestion pricing, when it was first launched one yr in the past, has seemingly “calmed down.”
“People like getting across the bridges faster, they like coming to the city with more time on their hands, they’re happy not to sit in traffic,” Hochul mentioned. “So to those individuals who are driving in, their quality of life has improved as well, and I’m really proud of that, and I hope they understand what this program did for them.”
A van passes beneath a congestion pricing gantry in Manhattan on Jan. 5, 2026.Picture by Dean Moses
The governor touted the state’s and MTA’s success in profitable many of the practically a dozen lawsuits that opponents introduced in hopes of halting congestion pricing over the previous few years.=
“For those of you who are keeping score, I’ve got more than 10 lawsuits. We have a pretty good record. Every time it’s gone before a judge, the judge says, ‘no, no, the state is right,’” Hochul mentioned.
Hochul mentioned she believes the state can have the identical end result with its lawsuit in search of to dam President Trump’s administration’s efforts to finish this system. The Manhattan federal choose within the case, Lewis Liman, will hear oral arguments later this month.
Mamdani, who gained the mayoralty on formidable proposals like making metropolis buses free, mentioned congestion pricing is proof of the “change that can come when government dares to do big things.”
“This is a program that has been successful, no matter how you measure it,” he mentioned.
Congestion pricing fees drivers coming into Manhattan beneath sixtieth Road a $9 base toll throughout peak hours. The tolls range primarily based on automobile dimension and the time of day drivers enter the zone, referred to as the Central Enterprise District (CBD).
The governor ticked off this system’s constructive impacts on congestion and security: lowering the variety of autos enterring the CBD by 11% — equating to 27 million fewer autos; permitting these enterring and exiting the zone throughout rush hour to maneuver a median 23% quicker over crossings; boosting bus speeds within the CBD by 2.3%; and lowering crashes within the space by 7%.
She additionally pointed to a 22% drop in air air pollution throughout the CBD; a 6.3% rise in financial exercise within the zone; and Broadway having its greatest season in historical past — bringing in $1.9 billion in ticket gross sales.
Moreover, the state’s and MTA’s projections point out this system will increase $550 in web revenues for its first yr. They are going to then start bonding these {dollars} out to herald $15 billion to fund main capital enhancements to the system over the following a number of years.
“It’s going to bring us more benefits, more than just less congested streets,” Lieber mentioned of congestion pricing. “It’s the new train cars that you’re making possible. The new signals. The more ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) elevators.”
The MTA has already accredited contracts for sign modernization on the A/C line in Brooklyn and Queens and to put in elevators at 5 stations using congestion pricing income late final yr.
