The first two months of NYC’s congestion pricing program have brought less traffic, safer streets and faster trip times for commuters. But how much time are we savings, and how does this affect people?

The Partnership for NYC has said traffic costs our economy $20 billion annually. The drain is due to slower goods movement, delays and uncertainties while traveling for business across the city, commuting, and various other factors. New RPA numbers look strictly at the commuting time savings and how congestion pricing is making a dent in the losses identified in the Partnership’s report. Our new analysis finds that annual value of time savings to commuters could total as much as $1.3 billion.

New Jersey bus riders and drivers are the big winners here, thanks to traffic reduction near the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels. For some of the longest trips, commuters are saving more than 20 minutes coming through the Lincoln Tunnel. Queens and Long Island commuters are also seeing substantial savings. On the lower end of commuter time saving is the Hudson Valley, Manhattan, the Bronx and Connecticut.

The MTA has reported that in January average trip times were down 17% at the Lincoln Tunnel, which sees most of the bus traffic into Manhattan, and 48% at the Holland Tunnel.

The biggest time savings for commuters so far are for those using vehicles or buses to get to work. The chart below shows the number of commuters using those modes who are benefitting from the congestion pricing.

These time savings aren’t just statistics. They mean being able to get your kid on time for daycare, being able to sleep in a bit, doing more business and thus earning more during work hours, experiencing less stress, and having more free time for exercise. Here are just some of the many stories:

But since time is also money, another calculation is the overall economic benefit of all this saving time. Using wages and time savings, it’s possible to calculate the economic value of these time savings.

Methodology

Travel time saved is based on MTA bus travel speeds and applied to the number of vehicles and passengers. Commuters are divided into industry and occupation groups to create a differentiated wage schedule to estimate the wage-based value of travel time savings. The charts are based on commute time saved, estimates of days travelling to work, and wages.

Given a high and low range, instead of one hard and fast projection, helps account for the changing dynamics of the program.