"More than a year after congestion pricing arrived in New York City, advocates and lawmakers continue to celebrate the program's success. The tolls generated $550 million in revenue for public transit, reduced traffic by 11 percent and improved air quality by 22 percent. Its opponents' worst fears never materialized. Still, it's easy to wonder what a more muscular and thought-out program may have accomplished."
"Albany's decision to impose a fixed fee on rideshare passengers, instead of rideshare companies, made political sense. This arrangement discourages Uber and Lyft from hiking prices beyond what the MTA would have charged, and passenger fees more accurately reflect the impact of ride-share operations. The more people use ride-share, the more revenue the MTA receives. But the total surcharge is far too low and fails to meaningfully discourage the usage of rideshare."
Congestion pricing in New York City produced $550 million for public transit, cut traffic by 11 percent, and improved air quality by 22 percent while avoiding predicted negative outcomes. The rideshare surcharge is too low, not inflation-indexed, and targets passengers rather than platforms, reducing its deterrent effect and revenue potential and failing to anticipate robotaxis and wealthy rideshare users. The initial roll-out lacked clearly visible, toll-funded benefits on Day 1. Stronger design choices—higher indexed surcharges, day-one transit investments, targeted equity protections, reinvestment, enforcement, and regional coordination—would amplify congestion reduction, revenue, and fairness.
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