In the first month of congestion pricing, the MTA reported over 1 million fewer vehicle entries into the toll zone than would be expected without the program, driving the significant traffic reduction seen above. It’s also worth noting that the above chart shows reduction in travel times rather than congestion—in many cases, congestion has completely disappeared, and the new travel times represent a congestion-free trip. This reduction reverses a years-long trend of rising traffic into Manhattan - congestion pricing took a worsening gridlock problem and solved a significant portion of it overnight. Additionally, while there were fears that congestion pricing would just re-route traffic to other boroughs, the data from the first months of congestion pricing suggests that traffic has not increased elsewhere in the city.
Transit ridership has seen a notable spike since the implementation of congestion pricing as travelers into Manhattan are switching from driving to transit.
The MTA as a whole is averaging 448K more public transit riders per day this year. To put this into perspective, the second-highest ridership subway in the US is the DC Metro, which averaged 304K riders per day in January this year. The MTA ridership growth since congestion pricing went into effect is almost 50% larger than the total ridership of America’s next-largest subway system.
Unsurprisingly, bus ridership has seen the greatest relative growth, likely due to the fact that it most immediately benefits from congestion pricing thanks to faster travel times.
you're describing a small percentage of the population here--most people have no strong opinions on congestion pricing (because it doesn't really have a prior in the United States), and as such it's extremely important to write articles like this which can show them that it is working and it benefits them in every way
do you mean a small population on this community, or in life?
I live in NYC and most people haven't brought it up to me, a handful have whined about it. But I also know a lot of urban nerds that love it.
in life. most people in NYC have literally never experienced this one way or the other before NYC implemented it, and certainly aren't seeking out the kinds of spaces that would be partisan on it in some way. their opinions on this are accordingly malleable based on "does this feel good or bad," and you can see this in how there's already been a large change toward supporting congestion pricing as the benefits have become increasingly tangible:
That's in line with what I was saying - that most people's takes on congestion pricing (and honestly all other policy) is just vibes. I'd hope that stats and facts would sway them, but I've met people. But then again you cite there a large change towards supporting it as evidence builds, so maybe there's hope.