2023-08-08 17:32:36
New York wants to introduce, as is already the case in London, an urban toll in order to limit pollution and better control road traffic. This tax project, which would see the light of day in 2024, has angered yellow taxis and the neighboring state of New Jersey.
The tax would be levied at the entrance to the center of Manhattan, with a triple objective: to relieve congestion on the main avenues of the island, to improve the quality of the air, to financially bail out the metro system in poor condition. A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the public operator of the New York subway and commuter trains, welcomed the project.
Reduce CO2 emissions
This urban toll of 17 to 23 dollars per day, installed at the entrance to 60th street in Manhattan (knowing that there are already some on all the highways surrounding the megalopolis), must come into force in the spring of 2024. It would concern 700,000 cars, vans and trucks per day and would reduce daily traffic by 10% – and the CO2 emissions that go with it.
New York officials cited environmental studies in London, which has long had a congestion charge. Polluting emissions would have dropped by 20% thanks to this measure. “We know that automobile pollution is a major factor in the climate crisis which is damaging the planet and our health,” summarized a Greenpeace official.
Many disputes
The project dates back to 2007, when billionaire Michael Bloomberg was mayor of New York. But the town hall and its legislature did not agree on the project until 2019, under the mandate of Democrat Bill de Blasio. The federal government gave the green light in June.
The project is strongly contested, in particular by some 21,000 New York taxi drivers. According to the president of their union, Bhairavi Desai, the tax will sign the death warrant for certain taxis already brought to their knees by the pandemic and competition from VTCs.
New Jersey, a popular border state and dormitory suburb of Manhattan, is challenging this future urban toll in court, believing that it will weigh on professionals who go to the Big Apple every day. Faced with the discontent, officials have proposed tariffs arranged for the lowest incomes, in a city already hit by galloping inflation.
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