NYC’s plan to ease gridlock and pump billions into mass transit? A $15 toll for Manhattan drivers

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “New York has decided to invest in the infrastructure that makes New York possible.” American cities should take heed of London’s experience, suggests Michael Manville, a professor who chairs the urban planning department at UCLA. “But the further and further you start going down that road, there lies madness.” So far, New York’s plan includes exemptions for emergency vehicles, transit buses, certain vehicles carrying people with disabilities and specialized government vehicles. Richard Galler, a Fort Lee, New Jersey, resident and a plaintiff in one of the suits, said he fears vehicle pollution in his neighborhood will only get worse if drivers who would have entered Manhattan via two tunnels south of Central Park divert to the George Washington Bridge, which is located outside the proposed congestion zone. “They don’t have wiggle room in their budget.” Manhattan business groups, meanwhile, hope authorities can pump the brakes while New York City continues recovering from the pandemic, which changed commuting patterns substantially as many office workers shifted permanently to working from home much of the time.