Controversial congestion charge goes into effect in Manhattan

The toll to access the heart of Manhattan in New York comes into operation on Sunday, after years of bureaucratic and legal obstacles. Can the successes achieved by this type of initiative in European cities be duplicated in Canada?

In New York, as in other cities where the measure was applied, the congestion pricing aims to reduce traffic congestion and pollution and increase public transport revenues. Here’s what you need to remember.

Who will have to pay and how?

The toll applies to the most congested part of Manhattan, south of Central Park. According to the principle of dynamic pricing, the price varies depending on the time and the presence or absence of E-ZPass, an automatic payment system by reading license plates.

• Vehicles with an E-ZPass will pay $9 per day (5 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekends). During the night, tolls will be reduced to $2.25.
• Taxi passengers will pay an additional 75 cents, while for Uber or Lyft customers, the latter will be $1.50.
• Drivers without E-ZPass will receive their invoices by mail. Passage is $13.50 during the day and $3.30 at night.
• Motorcyclists will pay half price, while bus and truck drivers will pay more, with the price varying depending on their size.

Where does this come from?

The idea has been in the air for several years. In 2007, former mayor Michael Bloomberg took steps with varying degrees of success.

The idea eventually came to fruition in 2019, but legal challenges from other states, politicians (Donald Trump has promised to abolish it), drivers and transportation companies delayed its implementation.

To help pass the pill, the governor of the state, Kathy Hochul, recently reduced the amount of the passage: the $15 initially planned went down to $9. A federal judge this week also rejected the state of New Jersey’s last-minute attempt to temporarily block the toll.

Other international examples

New York is the first American city to implement such a system, but several cities already use it, such as London (2003), Sydney (1992), Stockholm (2006), Milan (2012) and Singapore which was the first to adopted in 1975.

In London, such a toll was installed around twenty years ago. The price is currently $27. It helped remove 60,000 vehicles from the roads in the British capital, reducing congestion by 30%. (New window). The sums collected, partly reinvested in an improved public transport offer, saw an increase in bus use of 38%, while emissions of fine particles decreased by 12%.

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In Milan, Italy, the reduction in traffic was also 30% and the reduction in air pollutants ranged from 10% (nitrogen oxide) to 31% (ammonia). The circulation of the most polluting vehicles is severely restricted, or even prohibited in certain sectors.

And in Canada?

Could these experiences inspire certain Canadian cities?

In 2017, the former mayor of Montreal, Denis Coderre, mentioned an option that could be inspiringwhile promising a debate. At the time, the Projet Montréal party, then in opposition, called for a study on this subject. This was ultimately never carried out.

The Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) published a note (New window) on the advantages and disadvantages of urban tolls. Beyond the advantages, the report highlighted that an urban toll is generally costly and takes up, in the case of London for example, around a third of revenues, all for economic benefits which vary greatly, depending on the studies.

Furthermore, urban tolls can have serious impacts for low-income motorists without schedule flexibilityin addition to lifting issues related to confidentiality and privacynote it CAA, who does not take sides in this report.

In order to finance public transport in a context where the Legault government is resistant to urban tolls, the Metropolitan Community has so far opted instead for an increase in the tax on registration, which went from $59 in 2024 to 150 $ on 1^is January 2025.

In Vancouver, the idea was also considered as part of the Emergency Climate Action Plan, before being discarded.

With information from the Associated Press