Public to weigh in on toll plan
Congestion pricing — an idea talked about for years — is about to be talked about even more.
The MTA on Thursday kicks off a lengthy public outreach process on its congestion pricing plan that will include 13 public hearings.
Federal officials say the hearings are needed for the agency to launch the program, which aims to toll all vehicles driving south of 60th St. in Manhattan to provide money for public transit upgrades.
State law requires congestion pricing to bring in enough money for the MTA to finance $15 billion of its $51.5 billion capital plan, which has been derailed and delayed by the pandemic.
The hearings will seek feedback from groups across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. People will be able to share their thoughts on tolls — and lobby for exemptions from them.
The first two hearings set for Thursday open up another step toward implementing the program, which was approved by state lawmakers in April 2019 with the idea it would launch early in 2021.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials previously blamed the Trump administration for slow walking congestion pricing’s approval, which is required by the Federal Highway Administration because many of Manhattan’s streets are within federal routes.
Biden administration officials in March took a step to clear that roadblock by issuing guidance to the MTA on what type of environmental review is needed before the tolls can launch.
The feds said the agency must draft an environmental assessment. That’s typically much quicker to produce than an environmental impact statement, which requires a deep dive into potential alternatives to a given project.
But the MTA’s wish for speedy approval of congestion pricing was dashed this summer when the federal officials said a lengthy outreach process must be completed before the environmental assessment is certified.
Transit officials last week said the whole process wouldn’t be finished until Nov. 2022 — and it could take nearly a year after that for the tolls to launch.
“We are committed to a transparent process and this is the start of what promises to be a robust public outreach effort,” said MTA spokesman Ken Lovett.
Painstaking public outreach is nothing new for the MTA, and the schedule laid out for congestion pricing is less extensive than the agency’s push in 2018 and 2019 to justify congestion pricing in the first place.
Andy Byford — who resigned from the MTA in Feb. 2020 and now runs Transport for London — said public meetings he held as NYC Transit president aimed at selling the big capital spending plan and congestion pricing helped restore public faith in the MTA and his long-term strategy to fix it, which he dubbed “Fast Forward.”
“We did over 100 sessions,” Byford told the Daily News. “The fact that Fast Forward gained near universal approval and that it ultimately secured around $39 billion [for NYC Transit] made it all worthwhile.”