Courthouse News Service talks to one-time congestion pricing skeptics who now support the program because of changes it’s brought over the first two months of operation. A Fort Lee, New Jersey, resident who was convinced tolling would increase congestion in his neighborhood reports it has actually had the opposite effect. George Washington Bridge traffic that once choked Fort Lee streets has undergone a “transformational” change, he says. He’s also seen an improvement in the time it takes to drive into New York. A Wayne, New Jersey, commuter to midtown Manhattan who once fretted about the cost of tolls has changed his mind. He reports his bus trips, which previously took as long as 80 minutes, are now as short as 25 minutes. The article notes that the program still faces significant opposition, but the anecdotes mirror recent poll results that show growing public acceptance of congestion pricing.
One of the main concerns of MTA program opponents is that drivers looking to avoid midtown tolls will increase traffic congestion and pollution in metro areas beyond Manhattan. SILive.com columnist Tom Wrobleski, no friend of the program, takes note of a small increase in Verrazzano Narrows Bridge traffic that coincides with the recent reduction of vehicle traffic into the Manhattan congestion zone. However, he acknowledges the “numbers fall below an increase in outer-borough traffic predicted in the MTA’s environmental assessment.”