NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- The MTA announced Wednesday that it expects to start Downtown Manhattan congestion tolls by the end of 2023.
Steve Berrang, the MTA’s director of capital program management, said at a City Council budget hearing that he expects federal approval by the end of 2022, clearing the way for toll collection to begin the following year.
Revenue raised by the tolls, which will increase during rush hour, will go to the MTA, which plans to reinvest the money into public transportation projects.
A congestion pricing law passed the state legislature in April 2019, but former President Donald Trump opposed the project during his feud with former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, delaying approval from the Federal Highway Administration.
Once President Joe Biden took office, the administration approved the MTA to conduct the necessary environmental review, setting the project in motion again.
The law called for the tolls to raise $1 billion in revenue annually. The details of how that will be accomplished were left up to a new six-member panel called the Traffic Mobility Review Board.
Because the board has yet to meet, the exact cost of the tolls is to be determined, but the MTA estimates drivers could pay anywhere between $9 and $23 depending on the time of day to cross into Downtown Manhattan.
Trucks will likely pay even more.
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