The majority hates congestion pricing

Not mincing words on what the @SienaResearch poll means for congestion pricing. pic.twitter.com/5Bjv96T6Ob

— Joe Borelli (@JoeBorelliNYC) April 22, 2024

NY Post

New York voters overwhelmingly reject having to pay a new $15 “congestion” toll to enter Midtown Manhattan, a statewide poll released Monday shows.

The Siena College survey finds that 63% of voters throughout the Empire State oppose the toll, while only 25% support the pricing scheme promoted by Gov. Kathy Hochul and the MTA to curb congestion and generate nearly $1 billion a year to fund mass transit.

In New York City, 64% of voters are against the first-in-the-nation congestion pricing plan to enter the Manhattan business district south of 60th Street compared to just 33% who back it.

An even higher 72% of voters who reside in the suburbs surrounding the Big Apple — more likely to drive than take mass transit into Manhattan — oppose the controversial toll that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority could implement as early as June.

Opposition to the toll is one of the few issues that unifies all cross-segments of New York voters.

The new toll is opposed by 72% of blacks, 62% of Latinos, 62% of union households, 75% of Republicans, 69% of independent or unaffiliated voters, 75% of Republicans and even a majority 54% of Democrats.

Congestion pricing is being implemented because of a state law championed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Democrat-controlled legislature in 2019 — yet only 34% of Democrats support it.

Hochul, Cuomo’s successor, has defended congestion pricing as a good thing amid a plethora of lawsuits to block it.

“A majority of Democrats, two-thirds of independents and three-quarters of Republicans oppose the soon-expected congestion pricing toll plan, as do approximately two-thirds of downstaters and a majority of upstaters,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg.

One in seven voters — 14% of respondents — said they would travel less to Manhattan to avoid the toll, while 17% said they would find another way to get to Midtown that could include mass transit.

Another 14% of respondents said the toll would have no effect on their travel patterns while 44% said they don’t go to Manhattan. The poll queried upstaters who rarely venture into the Big Apple.

Congestion pricing imposes a $15 toll on cars traveling anywhere below 60th Street between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends.

Overnight, the toll drops to $3.25.