An Evaluation of Alternatives to the New York City Congestion Pricing Plan

In April Mayor Bloomberg presented for public consideration 127 initiatives designed to improve New York City’s land use, water, transportation, energy and air. Sixteen recommendations covered transportation, including the proposal for congestion pricing, which has by far received the most attention and discussion. The proposal calls for charging an $8 fee for passenger cars entering or leaving Manhattan south of 86th Street between the hours of 6am and 6pm weekdays, with a charge of $21 for trucks. It also calls for a charge of $4 for passenger cars that move about this area during that period and begin and end their trip in the zone.

This congestion program seeks to address multiple problems affecting the region’s economy, public health and quality of life. These can be summarized in three goals that provide a benchmark for evaluating both the congestion pricing program and suggested alternatives.

1. Relieving Traffic Congestion
2. Improving Air Quality
3. Funding Transit Needs

In the period since the congestion pricing concept was proposed, a number of alternative ways of addressing traffic congestion have been suggested in an attempt to forestall the need to establish the congestion charge, arguing that the goal of substantially reducing congestion could be achieved without the congestion fee.

These alternatives strive to find other ways to reduce traffic congestion, either by barring some vehicles on some days based on their license plate numbers, by reducing the volume of trucks on City streets, by better traffic enforcement, or through better transit options, or with combinations of these. Yet, even those who have expressed concerns about moving forward with congestion pricing have embraced the larger goals of reducing congestion, improving air quality and funding transit capital investments. It is therefore reasonable to ask whether the proposed alternatives can achieve these three goals.