The Long Road to Congestion Pricing
New York’s first-in-the-nation congestion pricing program brought New Yorkers less traffic, easier commutes, better bus speeds, and safer streets within days of its implementation in January 2025. But the program took decades of collaboration between nonprofits, advocates, and funders to become a reality.
“It’s gratifying to see immediate benefits from a program that took a dizzying amount of coordinated advocacy to set in motion,” said Arturo Garcia-Costas, program director for the local, national, and international environment at The New York Community Trust. “Of course, the long-term effects will be even greater. Thanks to congestion pricing, New Yorkers can look forward to cleaner air, less climate pollution, an updated and more accessible public transit system, and a city that’s safer for pedestrians and drivers—among many other benefits.”
After making a grant in 2005 to help the Partnership for New York City research a congestion-pricing zone south of 60th Street in Manhattan, The Trust continued to invest in the movement, collaborating with diverse coalitions that doubled down in the face of frequent setbacks.
Instead of throwing in the towel after the State Assembly defeated the Bloomberg administration’s effort to introduce congestion pricing legislation in 2008, the movement regrouped. In 2011, The Trust partnered with MOVE NY, a coalition led by Alex Mattheissen, former president of Riverkeeper, and “Gridlock” Sam Schwartz, a former city traffic commissioner who began advocating for congestion pricing in the 1970s. Their coalition included Trust grantees the Riders Alliance, Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Regional Plan Association, and New York City Environmental Justice Alliance.
MOVE NY rallied political support when public momentum for congestion pricing grew once more in 2017, during what became known as the “Summer of Hell” as major subway breakdowns highlighted the urgency of updating an aging transit system.
The movement’s broad coalition building paid off in 2019. New York’s Traffic Mobility Act enshrined congestion pricing in state law for the first time and slated it to begin in 2021.
“Transportation is an intersectional issue. It relates to public health, economic opportunity, and providing accessibility for all folks. It was important to have that represented in our coalition effort,” said Renae Reynolds, Tri-State Transportation Campaign’s executive director. “We had advocates who worked in the disability space, environmental justice organizations, and even corporations like Uber and Lyft. It was a very big table of organizations working together to accomplish this victory.”
Instead of starting in 2021, the congestion pricing legislation faced further delays, including a lengthy environmental review period. But advocates were shocked in June 2024 when Governor Hochul reversed course and paused the program indefinitely, just days before it was slated to begin. That decision threatened to leave a $15-billion shortfall in the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s five-year capital plan.
The Trust responded swiftly with a grant to Earth Justice, the world’s largest nonprofit environmental law firm, to support nonprofits filing a lawsuit to challenge Governor Hochul’s suspension of the initiative.
In September, The Trust worked with the New York Environmental Funders Network at Philanthropy New York to convene frontline nonprofits that included the Riders Alliance, League of Conservation Voters, and Regional Plan Association, to determine how funders could help them sustain the legal, advocacy, and communication efforts needed to “turn on” congestion pricing. The group established a budget of $850,000.
Days after the briefing, an anonymous New York donor approached The Trust with a matching grant of $300,000 to help reach the budget goal, and the Congestion Pricing Go Fund was born. The Trust rapidly rallied other donors, including individuals, foundations, and corporations, to raise the remainder in time to start making grants in late October.
In November 2024, Governor Hochul unpaused the program, and advocates witnessed their vision become a reality as congestion pricing went into effect on January 5. But the work is not over. The Trust will continue to support frontline nonprofits and coalitions to ensure a robust implementation of the program.
“Now we need to win the win and show what congestion pricing can deliver for all New Yorkers. Congestion pricing, just as it is today, is transformative. But it can be so much more transformative if we keep building on it,” said Betsy Plum, executive director of the Riders Alliance. “We should absolutely have bus prioritization so that more New Yorkers are able get where they need to be going quicker. This is part of what makes people want to live, raise families, and build their lives in New York.”
