The legislator who oversees the MTA’s committee is warning the authority not to allow any more exemptions to Manhattan’s planned congestion tolls — or else risk losing potential revenue needed for the transit system.
State Sen. Leroy Comrie said during a hearing on Wednesday that proposed exemptions for city residents, government employees or suburban drivers “upset the entire point of congestion pricing.”
“I don’t think there should be any exemptions, and I’m going to continue to say that there should be no exemptions,” Comrie said, after senators from north of New York City called for discounts for their constituents when the MTA launches tolls in Manhattan below 60th Street.
State legislators passed the congestion toll plan in 2019 with three baked-in exemptions — for emergency vehicles, for vehicles carrying disabled New Yorkers and for drivers who live inside the Manhattan congestion zone and make less than $60,000 per year.
But the Traffic Mobility Review Board that will ultimately set toll rates has the authority to confer more exemptions — and everyone from the Police Benevolent Association and taxi drivers to motorcycle and electric vehicle owners have said they want one.
MTA leaders have previously warned that targeted exemptions will result in higher tolls for everyone else, because state law requires them to raise a specific amount of money.
Comrie said New York needs to shut the conversation down before it gets out of hand.
“Once you open up that can of worms, you create major problems, because everybody wants to be exempted for something,” he said. “We’re gonna have real problems collecting any revenue from congestion pricing … Opening up exemptions for any one class on create problems, and really upsets the entire point of congestion pricing.”
The comments came at the confirmation hearing of Acting MTA Chairman Janno Lieber.
Originally set to launch at the start of 2021, congestion pricing is now unlikely to begin until sometime in the first nine months of 2023, Lieber told senators.