New York City's congestion pricing toll, which would have charged some drivers $15 to enter southern Manhattan during heavy commute hours, was supposed to go into effect at the start of July, but New York Governor Kathy Hochul killed the plan this week.
New York City would've been the first major American city to try congestion pricing, which has been in effect in several European cities for years. Could the idea help limit traffic bottlenecks in Los Angeles?
KNX News Chief Correspondent Charles Feldman asked that question to Michael Manville, an urban planning professor at UCLA. Manville said what happened in New York is a “cautionary tale” for supporters of congestion pricing.
“That had been the furthest that a conventional congestion pricing program had gotten in the United States to date,” he said. “And of course, the governor shelved it.”
While Manville was “generally supportive” of the plan in New York City, he said it looked a lot different from the kind of program he would recommend. He noted that other versions of congestion pricing are already in place in L.A. and are working well.
“The managed lanes that L.A. Metro runs on the 10 and the 210 and the 110, that’s congestion pricing,” he said. “You can travel in those lanes with a transponder if you pay a toll, and that toll varies with the time of day.”
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Metro is also studying the possibility of placing tolls at peak commute times on some of the most heavily trafficked freeways, like the 101, the 405, and into downtown L.A. So far, the agency hasn’t released any details on the plan.
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