MTA board approves final congestion pricing rates at board meeting

NEW YORK (PIX11) – An MTA board has voted to approve its finalized congestion pricing plan on Wednesday, which is slated to go into effect in mid-June.

The plan would add a toll for vehicles driving into Manhattan’s Central Business District south of 60th Street. The tolls vary, but passenger vehicles could be charged $15 a day during peak hours and trucks $24 or $36, depending on their size, among others.

The MTA announced a few more exemptions, including for buses and specialized government vehicles, earlier this week.

There will also be credits for those entering the Queens-Midtown, Hugh L. Carey, Holland and Lincoln tunnels. There are several lawsuits currently aimed at stopping the plan, including one from Vito Fossella, the Staten Island borough president.

“If you have to drive your car in Staten Island you have to pay a toll for the Verrazzano Bridge, Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel and now they want to impose a third and that will be a financial burden. It will increase traffic in Staten Island,” he said. “We don’t have a subway system we don’t have a commuter rail so people are forced to drive their car.”