By Chris McCahill
New York City shares many of the same goals as state and local transportation agencies: cutting traffic, improving travel times, making roads safer, and improving quality of life. Yet across the country, decades of investment in highway capacity have failed to deliver on those goals. Commute times have increased 7.5% since 2010, congestion has reached an all-time high, and U.S. roadways have become more dangerous than those of any other wealthy nation.
One year into its controversial congestion pricing program, however, the city is emerging as a notable exception and an unlikely model for the rest of the country.
Despite a shaky rollout and efforts by federal officials to shut it down, the program has delivered meaningful results. Reporting from The New York Times paints a picture of a city that looks very different from a year ago. By charging drivers $9 to enter lower Manhattan between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. (and $2.25 at other times), traffic entering the zone has dropped by 5% to 10%. Average vehicle speeds are up 4.5% within the zone and 2% nearby. At some major bridges and tunnels, speeds have increased by more than 25%, and by roughly 50% at the Holland Tunnel. For one commuter who spoke with The Times, that translates into daily time savings of 15 to 30 minutes. Serious injuries from crashes are down nearly 9%, and noise complaints have fallen by 17%.
So how did so many New Yorkers change their behavior so quickly?
Some made modest adjustments to when they travel, reflected in traffic spikes just before the charge begins and right after it ends. Many others shifted to transit. Subway ridership is up by roughly 300,000 trips, and buses are moving at least 2% faster. Those gains are likely to grow as well. The program is generating about $550 million per year for transit improvements—roughly $50 million more than initially projected.
To be sure, congestion pricing has so far been implemented only in some of the densest, most transit-rich places in the world, such as London and Singapore. But experience shows that wherever traffic exists, pricing and active traffic management offer the most reliable path to relief. Managed toll lanes, for example, have cut commute times in half on congested highways in Northern Virginia and produced similar results elsewhere. This stands in sharp contrast to highway expansion, which typically fills back up with traffic within three to five years—a well-documented phenomenon known as induced demand.
In states where tolling is politically challenging or legally constrained, parking management and other local incentives remain powerful, often underused tools. Parking price and availability strongly shape how people choose to travel, and decades of abundant, underpriced parking have reinforced car dependence in U.S. cities. Places like Los Angeles, California and Madison, Wisconsin, have begun to push back by adopting programs modeled on SSTI’s Modernizing Mitigation handbook, requiring developers to limit car trips through parking reforms and complementary incentives.
That said, congestion pricing is not without real tradeoffs. Some people say they now travel to Manhattan less often, according to the Times, opting for doctors or activities closer to home. Others have taken their place, as reflected in higher foot traffic and retail sales, but individual impacts still matter. That’s why equity must be central to any pricing program: understanding who bears the greatest burden, minimizing harm where possible, and reinvesting revenues in better, more affordable travel options. As we’ve written before, these principles apply just as much to paid parking as they do to road pricing.
The specific tools for managing traffic will vary by place. But the lesson from New York is simple: traffic will not fix itself if we keep adding capacity to chase demand. Other industries have already figured this out. Ride-hailing companies, airlines, and even amusement parks use pricing to manage crowds and improve reliability, and customers now expect it. Transportation agencies that want to offer a better service may need to follow suit.
Photo credit Bo Ponomari via Pexels. License.