New York City is expensive. Inflation is higher in the Big Apple than just about any other city in America. While it costs more to buy groceries and eat at a restaurant, it’s not just food — housing costs are exorbitant, with median rents up 18% since 2019. The tourism industry, which fuels the economy, is similarly affected. Hotel rates are at record highs — forcing some travelers to stay outside of the five boroughs.
It’s hard to imagine if things could be any more expensive and yet, 2025 is going to kick off a new era of unaffordability. Sadly, this is largely a problem of our governor’s own making.
Gov. Hochul’s new congestion pricing plan is only going to amplify our massive affordability crisis. The cost of everything is going to rise — from the food in your bodega to the packages delivered to your doorstep, and even services you rely on such as plumbing and HVAC. Why? Every time a commercial vehicle travels into the congestion pricing zone they’ll have to pay anywhere from $14.40 to $21.60.
Unlike passenger vehicles, which will be tolled once per day, trucks are charged per trip. Since trucks make multiple trips per day in and out of the zone — often just to access a roadway as part of efficient routing — these tolls will quickly add up.
Hochul rightly paused congestion pricing in June, citing our affordability crisis. It’s troubling that in her revived plan, she did little to address how consequential these tolls will be for the economy. Practically everything in the city gets delivered by trucks and since trucks are unconstitutionally charged on a per-trip basis and the businesses who rely on them already operate on slim margins, those costs will be passed down to all of us.
While the plan was delayed, the governor had an opportunity to make the program fairer. She did not deliver. The disproportionate pricing structure still unconstitutionally targets truck operators who have little to no say about when or where they make their deliveries.
While masqueraded as a method to reduce traffic and curb pollution — make no mistake, congestion pricing, by targeting the one industry it knows cannot avoid tolls, is a clear cash grab for the MTA. Despite reduced fares, this plan is still just as bad for the economy and will raise the price of essential goods across the region.
Considering the volume of deliveries that go into the tolling zone, it’s shocking that the trucking industry was denied a seat at the table when our leaders were putting together a new framework. To make matters worse, the new plan also includes additional measures that will further burden our drivers and impact prices.
The governor’s decision to expand the use of weigh-in-motion (WIM) technology along with congestion pricing is completely misguided.
The city’s only WIM enforcement regulation was specifically designed to keep overweight vehicles, even permitted ones, off the crumbling sections of the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway. While the intended purpose was to protect the lifespan of the aging roadway, it actually led to an increase in truck traffic. Moreover, we have not seen an increase in public weigh stations, nor has the overweight permit system been brought in line with state standards.
The resulting increase in truck traffic is unsurprising and we expect it will continue because weight restrictions only lead to more trucks on the road. All told, if WIM is applied more broadly, it stands in direct opposition to the goal of congestion pricing to reduce vehicle traffic citywide.
There are alternative options. For example, we can increase freight efficiency and even reduce vehicle miles traveled by incorporating micro hubs and blue highways into the freight network. These will help trucking companies meet both current consumer demand and a projected 68% increase by 2045.
It’s clear that the MTA is relying on the trucking industry to solve its financial woes. Despite this, we remain committed to fighting for pricing parity on behalf of the trucking industry with our lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court. We encourage the MTA to find the funding they need through an amended version of the plan or through alternative methods.
Let me be clear — we are not fundamentally opposed to congestion pricing. We all want less traffic and a better environment, but the current plan accomplishes neither of those goals. We’re ready — we’ve been ready — to work with the state to achieve this.
Miller is the director of Metro Region Operations at the Trucking Association of New York.
