By Mike Owen Benediktsson
After a months-long pause, New York State finally approved the long-awaited congestion pricing program this November, granting approval to the system that will make help fund the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) capital plan. This brings us one step closer to New York City joining major global hubs like London, Stockholm, and Singapore – cities that have all long reaped the benefits of a similar tolling program.
I grew up in Essex County and have lived on both sides of the Hudson River, including two decades in Brooklyn before moving back to New Jersey. For me – now that I’m a regular New Jersey Transit commuter – and my students, who rely daily on the region’s public transit system, congestion pricing is personal.
Each day, 447,000 commuters from North Jersey alone cross the Hudson River into Manhattan, thus relying on the MTA transit system, be it subway or bus, to get them to work on time.
The billions generated by congestion pricing will go towards the crucial maintenance and improvement of regional transit. Everything from accessibility improvements through the installation of elevators, to signal modernization, to delay reduction and the integration of electric buses, are shared benefits that will be palpable for the New Jerseyans sitting side-by-side with New Yorkers on their morning commute. For my commute, the 6th Avenue signal upgrades and renovations to the 59th Street station will improve reliability and enhance the experience.
We have seen time and time again what happens when we underfund our vital systems. Over the last five years, both New York and New Jersey shared the experience of a “Summer of Hell”, when a commute to work or back home could quickly turn into an hours-long ordeal. And while we’ve made strides in the revitalization of the Hudson Tunnel Project this past summer, other investments remained underfunded and delayed for over a decade, with the impact of an untouched, century-old tunnel felt by thousands each day.
Tack on additional pressure stemming from the effects of our climate crisis, and an increase in the number of commuters relying on these very systems (North Jersey commuters to New York City increased by 62% since 1990), and the urgency for a consistent funding stream for our shared transit system is irrefutable.
New Jersey has never existed in a vacuum. Its critical partnership with New York means an improved and invested-in New York City transit system will carry over to New Jerseyans.
The health and environmental benefits of the MTA tolling program are also far-reaching. It’s estimated that congestion pricing will reduce traffic in the congestion zone by up to 120,000 vehicles a day, significantly reducing the carbon emissions commuters breathe in daily, and relieving our streets of life-threatening gridlock.
Zooming out of the individual commuter benefits, the MTA’s tolling program will spur economic growth for the NY-NJ-CT region and protect over 100,000 jobs grounded in transit projects in the pipeline. The sustainability and vitality of our $2 trillion tri-state economy hinges on the long-term viability of our MTA transit system.
The benefits of congestion pricing will not only impact New Jersey commuters – this holiday season, 6.5 million tourists will travel to New York City between Thanksgiving and Christmas. New Jerseyans account for the largest share of domestic, out-of-state visitors annually.
New York City is our forever neighbor and critical partner, and as New Jerseyans, we take great pride in the undeniable impact the tri-state region has, not on just the U.S. but across the world.
But New York City is also the most congested city on the planet, according to global traffic data. Traffic affects the neighborhoods in the congestion relief zone, disrupts our environment, and amounts for an estimated $9.1 billion loss. While New York’s losses are also ours, New York’s achievements and improvements also lead to our shared success.
We’re less than a month away from realizing congestion pricing, yet despite the resounding benefits New Jersey commuters will share from the MTA’s tolling program, Governor Murphy remains fixated on countering what stands as an essential funding source for our shared transit hub.
New Jerseyans deserve to experience the daily benefits of a thriving, fully-funded transit system. It’s time to implement the congestion pricing program and usher in a new era for the tri-state region.
Mike Owen Benediktsson is an associate professor at Hunter College, a member of the PSC-CUNY union, and a native New Jerseyan.
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