CityLab Daily: Congestion Pricing, For Real This Time?

Don’t sneeze: It looks like New York may finally become the first city in the United States to introduce congestion pricing on its streets. The New York Times reports that state leaders have reached a consensus to put electronic tolls in place for drivers entering the most heavily jammed parts of Manhattan. Politically speaking, the idea has come a long way since 2008, when then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg floated a version of congestion pricing that was seen then as a non-starter.

Now, the city’s transportation crisis may have finally tipped the scales, getting Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo to agree that road fees are the way to fund the MTA’s big subway fix. Lawmakers in Albany think they can broker a deal before the state budget deadline on April 1, but they haven’t ironed out the specifics yet—and that’s where imposing road fees gets complicated. But as you can see from past CityLab coverage below, it’s an idea that transportation wonks have been waiting on for a while. Stay tuned for more from CityLab’s Laura Bliss on what’s different this time around.