Manhattan congestion toll panel will consider toll exemptions for suburbs

[Kamaji]

Chairman of controversial Manhattan congestion toll panel will consider toll exemptions for suburbs

By Nolan Hicks
July 19, 2023

It’d take a toll.

The chairman of the panel charged with setting the price for the coming and controversial Manhattan congestion pricing program said Wednesday that any discounts and exemptions would require others to pay more.

New Jersey and suburban New York politicians have pushed hard for major exemptions to the program, claiming that the toll will hurt the Big Apple’s economy by discouraging workers and families from taking trips to Manhattan.

“We’re going to give consideration to it, whether we decide to do nothing, whether we decide to do a maximum credit or do something in-between; because, again, there’s a lot of balancing here,” said Carl Weisbrod, the former chief of city planning who leads the Traffic Mobility Review Board.

“To eliminate congestion pricing tolls from anyone coming from the west or anyone using the Midtown tunnel or the Battery tunnel – that just defeats the purpose of the program, which is to try to reduce the number of vehicles,” he added.

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Source:  https://nypost.com/2023/07/19/chairman-of-congestion-toll-panel-carl-weisbrod-will-consider-exemptions-for-suburbs/

[Kamaji]

So, basically, they are going to turn this into a tax on tourists, basically.  The fact is, most of the traffic in Manhattan comes from the bedroom communities in NJ and on L.I., so exempting them is going to exempt most of the traffic coming into Manhattan.