Congestion Pricing’s True Test Comes During First Rush Hour

New York City’s long-awaited congestion pricing plan began on a freezing night over the weekend when few drivers were on the road and transit workers could turn on tolling equipment at a relaxed pace.

But a tougher test will happen on Monday morning, when traffic is expected to increase, with many commuters returning to work. Light snow is forecast, which could affect traffic levels.

The tolling program, the first of its kind in the nation, aims to lessen traffic and pollution in a designated zone, which runs from 60th Street to the southern tip of Manhattan.

After what seemed to be a successful first day, transportation officials will soon have a better sense of whether the new tolls will have a significant impact on the flow of cars, trucks and buses in the heart of the city.

On Sunday, they warned that it was too soon to know how the tolling system was faring. But they also said that traffic appeared to be moving as usual — not better, not worse — based on real-time transportation data.

Officials have projected that the tolling program could eventually reduce the number of vehicles entering the congestion zone by at least 13 percent.

On Sunday, Sarah M. Kaufman, director of New York University’s Rudin Center for Transportation Policy, went to examine the tolling site at the corner of 60th Street and Lexington Avenue. The policy is contentious, she said, but “the technology, itself, is seamless.”

Traffic data for the congestion zone was mixed on the first day. In a sign of less congestion, the average travel speed initially rose 3 percent to 15.1 miles per hour at 8 a.m. Sunday, compared with 14.6 m.p.h. at the same time on the first Sunday in January last year, according to INRIX, a transportation analytics firm.

But the travel speed later fell to 13 m.p.h. at noon, and then again to 12.1 m.p.h. at 5 p.m., which were both slightly slower than in 2024.

The arrival of congestion pricing was welcomed with elation from supporters and with anger from opponents.

Some transit riders said that they supported the plan in theory, but they were skeptical that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority — the state agency that is in charge of the city’s mass transit system and will collect the money raised from tolls — would use the revenue efficiently.

Rachel Drehmann, 43, of Brooklyn, works in the orchestra of the Broadway musical “Moulin Rouge.” She agrees with the concept of the tolls, but is not hopeful that the program will improve train service. Waiting on the Clark Street platform in Brooklyn Heights for a Manhattan-bound No. 2 train, she expressed irritation with the infrequent train service on weekends and weeknights.

“Broadway workers are really frustrated,” she said, adding that she sometimes rides a Citi Bike home after her show ends around 10 p.m. because it is a more reliable option at night than taking the train.

Janno Lieber, the M.T.A.’s chief executive, said that the system is already benefiting from congestion pricing because it has allowed the authority to move forward with plans to build elevators, to buy electric buses and to install new subway cars.

He said service is improving. “I don’t expect folks to notice it every day, but the numbers and the customer satisfaction are moving in the right direction,” Mr. Lieber said during a news conference on Sunday.

• How much will the tolls cost?
  Gov. Kathy Hochul had canceled the program in June because she said the tolls were too expensive. She revived it in November and slashed tolls across the board by 40 percent. Now, most cars will pay $9 to enter the congestion pricing zone instead of $15. But the tolls are projected to increase to $12 by 2028, and to $15 by 2031.

• If I don’t drive, do I need to care about congestion pricing?
  The program is raising money for mass transit and could improve air quality and traffic in the congestion zone. But it also affects the price of an Uber in the congestion zone and could have an impact on how much businesses and restaurants in the zone charge customers.

• Has this plan worked anywhere else?
  Similar plans are in place in other global capitals, including London, Stockholm, and Singapore. In those cities, a pattern has emerged in which the public resisted the tolls as they were introduced before growing to accept them.

Bernard Mokam contributed reporting.