NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The MTA is not prepared to handle the influx of complaints expected to arise from congestion pricing, according to Inspector General Carolyn Pokorny.
Pokorny said her office received more tolling complaints from MTA Bridges and Tunnels customers in early 2021 than in months prior, and the transit authority is still working to address those concerns.
Though the city and MTA have praised the plan, arguing it would provide "better air quality," "reduce traffic in Manhattan," "travel times," while "80% of the money would be used to improve and modernize New York City Transit," some critics have slammed the expected fees, among other issues.
First passed in 2019 under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo — the Central Business District Tolling Program will charge commuters to drive in certain areas of the city, including all streets and roadways south of 60th Street except the FDR Drive, West Side Highway/9A, Battery Park Underpass and any surface roadway portions of the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel connecting to West Street.
The OIG found officials could not find the underlying concerns of thousands of toll complaints, though they were able to count the number of complaints they received.
The report also found that Bridge and Tunnels customers could not "readily" conduct an analysis to conclude reasons for the increase in the volume of complaints — even produce reports to locate patterns within their analysis.
"We found that several complaints stemmed from a contractor’s failure to record license plate numbers correctly, but the prevalence of human error was not captured in any summary report for follow-up by management," the report added. "This shortcoming also puts the agency at risk of being ill-prepared to handle future Central Business District tolling complaints efficiently."
To address these possible inaccuracies, Pokorny's report found the agency should design and implement a modern information system to identify the causes and financial impact of the complaints before tolling begins.
Click here to read the full report here.
Related
