Long Islanders could pay as much as $35 to drive in Manhattan under congestion pricing plan

Drivers will face new tolls in the most congested area of the city starting in 2023. The idea is to encourage drivers to use mass transit.

News 12 Staff

Sep 27, 2021, 10:11 PM

Updated 934 days ago

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Details of the controversial congestion pricing plan are coming to light, and Long Islanders who drive into the city for work could soon be paying more.

Drivers will face new tolls in the most congested area of the city starting in 2023. The idea is to encourage drivers to use mass transit.
Under the MTA's plan, all vehicles traveling south of 60th Street in Manhattan would pay the new toll.
The MTA announced its proposed fares, ranging from $9 to $23 for E-ZPass users depending on what time of day they're traveling. Vehicles without an E-ZPass could pay as much $35.

For businesses that have to drive in Manhattan, this could be just another expense and another headache.

“We deliver stuff to the Javits, the Hilton, the piers,” said Erez Herschkowitz, the owner of Mo Trucking. Mo Trucking is a family-run company based in Farmingdale. Herschkowitz told News 12 he'll have no choice but to raise rates.

“I would say we send three to four trucks to the city a day. Our profit margin is small, so I would say that's about 30% of our profit margin per delivery per truck per day.”

Critics of the new plan say it's just another punch in the gut to small businesses who are still struggling to recover from the pandemic.

The MTA says the tolls will raise about $1 billion a year that'll be put toward infrastructure projects.


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