The following can be attributed to Tom Wright, President and CEO of Regional Plan Association, and Kate Slevin, Executive Vice President of Regional Plan Association:

Regional Plan Association is thrilled to see the MTA board vote in favor of congestion pricing today, officially making New York the first state in the United States to implement a program of its kind. Congestion pricing will improve public transit, reduce air pollution and decrease traffic in our region, and the capital created by congestion pricing is necessary to help keep trains, buses and commuter rails running reliably throughout the metropolitan region. Transit riders will benefit from this investment, as will our economy and environment and the safety of our streets. After decades of advocating for this program, RPA sees this as a historic day.

Through the public outreach period, supportive public comments outweighed negative by two to one. The public made it clear that they want congestion pricing; now, it will finally be reality.

We look forward to implementation, and for the MTA to track the program’s traffic, revenue, and environmental effects in a transparent manner - the program should evolve as conditions require.

We want to thank Governor Kathy Hochul for her unwavering support, MTA Chairman Janno Lieber, the Traffic Mobility Review Board, and the MTA staff for their leadership in moving this forward.