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The Death of NYC Congestion Pricing

And What is Says About the Institutional Problems in American Cities & Infrastructure

As with any heavily overcrowded bridge or highway, mispricing was causing economic inefficiency—charging for entry would allow priority vehicles to get where they’re going faster, incentivize better use of existing roadways, and open up a funding stream that could be used to expand beyond current infrastructure constraints. But Governor Hochul does not represent New Jerseyans, and for New Yorkers ( especially the 55% of city households who don’t own a car), the tradeoff was supposed to be clearer—impose costs on a small subset of drivers to deliver benefits in the form of transit investments that would serve the majority of people. There are inevitable legal battles that will have to be settled regarding Hochul’s attempt to pause the project, and the appetite for a payroll tax increase seems to be low, leading to talk of raiding the state’s general fund or issuing more debt as a stop-gap until another source of workable revenue can be found.

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