In New York, a tariff plan for visiting the city center was approved (2 photos)

The city government thus decided to fight traffic jams. Everyone will pay, except drivers of ambulances and snowplows.





New York is choking on cars. Traffic jams are especially severe during rush hour. In order to relieve the city from the abundance of cars, the authorities decided to take unpopular measures: to introduce a fee for entering the city center. This initiative began to be discussed in the summer, and now they have finally come to the need to introduce such restrictions. It is expected that the innovations will become operational in the spring of 2024. The authorities consider such measures to be forced.

So, the toll will be charged to all drivers of cars, trucks, motorcycles and other vehicles. Different vehicles will be charged different amounts - here's the price breakdown:

Passenger transport - : $15

Small trucks (such as cargo vans, etc.) - $24

Large Trucks - $36

Motorcycles - $7.50



These changes will affect all drivers entering the so-called Central Business District (CBD), which stretches from 60th Street in Manhattan and below, all the way to the southern tip of the Financial District.

What else is known about these restrictions?

Full day rates will apply from 17:00 to 21:00 on weekdays and from 9:00 to 21:00 on weekends. The board called for after-hours fares (9 p.m. to 5 a.m. on weekdays and 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. on weekends) to be reduced by about 75 percent—about $3.50 instead of $15 per passenger vehicle.

Drivers will only be charged for entering the zone, not for leaving or staying in it. This means residents who drive into the CBD and drive around their block to find parking will not be charged.

Only one toll will be charged per day, so anyone entering the area, then leaving and returning will only be charged once for that day.

Unfortunately, the authorities will not make exceptions for anyone except ambulance drivers and snowplows. This means that taxi drivers also fall into the category that will pay for traffic jams. They will not be charged as such, but it is already known that city taxi drivers will be required to pay an additional tax of $1.25 per trip. And those who work for Uber, Lyft, etc. they will charge more - $2.50 per route.

Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, has already said that this innovation is “reckless” and will put taxi workers out of business. But New York authorities believe that this initiative will significantly reduce traffic jams and replenish the city budget. No one doubts the latter.