© Mark Vergari/The Journal News / USA TODAY NETWORK
(New York, NY) — We were told last month that congestion pricing was put on an indefinite pause, but now we are hearing that Governor Kathy Hochul could sign off on a new toll plan that would charge drivers a much lower toll to go below 60th Street in Manhattan. The Governor pointed to cities like London where congestion pricing began with low tolls. In London, tolls started at around six dollars to go into the city’s business district.
Governor Hochul has faced intense pressure to help the MTA find the funding, that they hoped would come from congestion pricing, to pay for a laundry list of items down below on the subway. New York state also could be facing lawsuits for pausing the toll plan.
Meanwhile, suburban New York City voters approve of Governor Hochul’s surprise congestion tolling pause. A Siena College survey of more than eight-hundred New Yorkers found that 56-percent of suburbanites support Hochul’s pause decision, compared with 45-percent statewide. But Sienna’s poll also shows Hochul’s action hasn’t budged her approval rating with just 38-percent of New Yorkers giving the Governor a thumbs up. That’s her lowest approval rating in a year.
