New York, a metropolis with massive car and truck traffic, will introduce the first congestion charge at the entrance to an American city in June, a controversial project aimed at reducing congestion and pollution and, above all, preserving the subway network, ​reported. AFP.

The purpose of this $15-per-trip direct fee charged at the entrance to midtown Manhattan, one of New York’s five boroughs, is threefold:

• reducing traffic jams on the main boulevards and streets that connect the island from north to south and from east to west,
• improvement of air quality in Veliky Yabluka
• improving the metro budget, which is in a pathetic state.

The board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the public operator of the city’s subway and commuter trains, voted 11 to one in favor of the fee Wednesday night.

Its CEO Janno Lieber hailed “one of the board’s most important votes” in a press release, assuring that “the MTA is ready.”

“One of the main goals is to finally solve the problem of road congestion and also, at the other end of the chain, to invest more in the public transport network,” he said.

The MTA, which has seen ridership decline during the pandemic, hopes to bring in $1 billion a year.

If the federal government agrees and unless administrative appeals by neighboring New Jersey or taxis block the project, New York will become the first city in the United States to implement such a fee by mid-June.

It will follow in the footsteps of London, Stockholm and Singapore.

• Cars and vans entering from 60th Street in Manhattan and heading south from the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn (across the East River) or coming from New Jersey (across the Hudson River) will have to pay 15 USD during the day and $3.75 at night.
• Trucks and buses will have to pay between $24 and $36, while the famous yellow cabs will be able to add $1.25 to each trip, the MTA said.
• Emergency vehicles will be exempted and low-income drivers in a city with high inequality and inflation will be eligible for discounts.

The project originated in 2007, when billionaire Michael Bloomberg was mayor.

But the principle was only formalized in 2019 under former left-wing mayor Bill de Blasio, the predecessor of Eric Adams, a center-right former police officer.