New York City’s congestion pricing is doing its job. Since its beginning, New York City has seen fewer cars on the road, freeing up traffic, which has the added effect of fewer accidents and lowered air pollution.
Additionally, it has encouraged more pedestrians to use the buses and subway system. According to Gizmodo, buses and subways have seen a 13% and 8% increase in riders, respectively. Ridership on taxis and the ride-sharing bike program Citi Bike has also increased.
That said, not everyone is happy. Businesses that have relied on domestic customer traffic from neighboring states like New Jersey have seen a downturn in customers from those areas. Additionally, people have worried about the effect on traffic in areas not included in the city’s congestion pricing, now that traffic has diverted.
Those concerns are warranted and should not be ignored, but the solution should not be to get rid of congestion pricing. Instead, the existing public transportation needs improvement.
Updating existing public transportation, like buses and trains, will give pedestrians more opportunities to enter the city outside of using a car. This won’t just help New York City but also other towns and cities being held up by increased traffic.
The MTA should be doing everything in its power with the revenue it’s accrued from congestion pricing to improve these services.
