Dubai Telegraph - New York to revive driver congestion charge plan, drawing Trump ire

EUR -
AED 3.868036
AFN 70.556841
ALL 97.357796
AMD 407.519973
ANG 1.897801
AOA 961.472489
ARS 1056.134523
AUD 1.631513
AWG 1.898198
AZN 1.779426
BAM 1.955933
BBD 2.126045
BDT 125.828557
BGN 1.951034
BHD 0.396857
BIF 3051.332951
BMD 1.053092
BND 1.417083
BOB 7.275633
BRL 6.097292
BSD 1.052972
BTN 88.873344
BWP 14.453846
BYN 3.445934
BYR 20640.595629
BZD 2.122485
CAD 1.480994
CDF 3018.160267
CHF 0.937677
CLF 0.037233
CLP 1027.375369
CNY 7.613956
CNH 7.638814
COP 4719.69334
CRC 537.836575
CUC 1.053092
CUP 27.906928
CVE 110.466774
CZK 25.286828
DJF 187.155704
DKK 7.458937
DOP 63.659602
DZD 140.713598
EGP 52.231872
ERN 15.796374
ETB 128.398185
FJD 2.395827
FKP 0.831223
GBP 0.831432
GEL 2.869651
GGP 0.831223
GHS 16.901937
GIP 0.831223
GMD 74.769391
GNF 9089.233891
GTQ 8.131862
GYD 220.290797
HKD 8.194764
HNL 26.411802
HRK 7.511975
HTG 138.358095
HUF 406.351196
IDR 16824.454893
ILS 3.944639
IMP 0.831223
INR 88.95786
IQD 1380.07656
IRR 44340.422562
ISK 145.674005
JEP 0.831223
JMD 166.691336
JOD 0.746746
JPY 164.795164
KES 136.376484
KGS 90.96237
KHR 4266.074143
KMF 491.266288
KPW 947.782053
KRW 1481.762471
KWD 0.323741
KYD 0.877443
KZT 522.0355
LAK 23110.095591
LBP 94357.008444
LKR 307.63092
LRD 193.874795
LSL 19.165476
LTL 3.109505
LVL 0.637004
LYD 5.138882
MAD 10.501957
MDL 19.073935
MGA 4907.406734
MKD 61.329706
MMK 3420.400483
MNT 3578.405247
MOP 8.441014
MRU 42.086842
MUR 49.695316
MVR 16.280487
MWK 1827.114148
MXN 21.541189
MYR 4.719428
MZN 67.239706
NAD 19.168622
NGN 1769.151713
NIO 38.711687
NOK 11.736063
NPR 142.203072
NZD 1.800618
OMR 0.405462
PAB 1.052992
PEN 4.006483
PGK 4.151551
PHP 62.05865
PKR 292.863531
PLN 4.322352
PYG 8223.559229
QAR 3.834043
RON 4.974905
RSD 116.507784
RUB 104.828879
RWF 1440.629328
SAR 3.955445
SBD 8.828472
SCR 15.52783
SDG 633.436063
SEK 11.584334
SGD 1.41773
SHP 0.831223
SLE 23.904752
SLL 22082.809581
SOS 601.843757
SRD 37.233631
STD 21796.87022
SVC 9.213627
SYP 2645.924123
SZL 19.171866
THB 36.847972
TJS 11.22435
TMT 3.685821
TND 3.319338
TOP 2.466445
TRY 36.265627
TTD 7.149486
TWD 34.311302
TZS 2801.224154
UAH 43.408252
UGX 3864.262783
USD 1.053092
UYU 44.733042
UZS 13479.572796
VES 47.863154
VND 26748.526988
VUV 125.025153
WST 2.939801
XAF 655.989151
XAG 0.034647
XAU 0.00041
XCD 2.846033
XDR 0.793246
XOF 653.440561
XPF 119.331742
YER 263.115098
ZAR 19.253853
ZMK 9479.091368
ZMW 28.877512
ZWL 339.09507
  • RBGPF

    -0.9400

    59.25

    -1.59%

  • SCS

    -0.1000

    13.27

    -0.75%

  • BCC

    -2.2000

    140.35

    -1.57%

  • CMSC

    -0.0600

    24.55

    -0.24%

  • NGG

    0.2500

    62.37

    +0.4%

  • JRI

    -0.0300

    13.21

    -0.23%

  • RYCEF

    -0.3200

    6.79

    -4.71%

  • RIO

    -0.1900

    60.43

    -0.31%

  • RELX

    -0.1700

    45.95

    -0.37%

  • BCE

    -0.3700

    26.84

    -1.38%

  • GSK

    -0.7200

    34.39

    -2.09%

  • BTI

    0.0700

    35.49

    +0.2%

  • CMSD

    -0.0050

    24.725

    -0.02%

  • AZN

    -0.2500

    65.04

    -0.38%

  • BP

    0.4800

    29.05

    +1.65%

  • VOD

    -0.0700

    8.68

    -0.81%

New York to revive driver congestion charge plan, drawing Trump ire
New York to revive driver congestion charge plan, drawing Trump ire / Photo: Charly TRIBALLEAU - AFP

New York to revive driver congestion charge plan, drawing Trump ire

New York said Thursday it will revive a controversial scheme to charge drivers entering parts of the city, a first in the United States, putting local authorities on a collision course with President-elect Donald Trump.

Text size:

"Under this plan, the (transport authority) will implement a congestion pricing plan with a reduced daytime toll of $9 beginning in January," said New York governor Kathy Hochul, announcing the revival of the plan that she put on pause in June, reduced from the originally planned $15 base level.

Republican lawmakers have called on Trump to intervene in the case to terminate the revived plan, with the former president previously vowing to kill the scheme if elected.

Trump told the conservative New York Post tabloid that "I strongly disagree with the decision", insisting "it will put New York City at a disadvantage over competing cities and states, and businesses will flee."

The scheme, which had initially been due to come into force on June 30 at the $15 level, faced legal challenges, highlighting the difficulty of levying drivers in a country where the car is king.

The goal of the plan is to fund the New York subway and reduce congestion, and Hochul said it being revived after an assessment was done of how it would work with a lower fee.

- 'Unintended consequences' -

Hochul suspended the plan in June, saying there were "too many unintended consequences for New Yorkers."

"This $9 daytime toll is enough to secure the $15 billion in (transport authority) funding the congestion pricing was intended to support," Hochul said.

The scheme will charge drivers for venturing below 60th Street in Manhattan, an area that encompasses the business districts of Midtown and Wall Street.

Some 700,000 vehicles enter the area every day, with cars traveling just seven miles per hour on average due to gridlock, officials say.

"I believe that everything in New York is extremely expensive at this point, and adding another fee is just digging into our pockets," said motorist Denis Cruz, 56, who drives into Manhattan daily.

The New York Taxi Workers Alliance, a union representing 21,000 cab drivers, previously estimated the levy would have seen drivers lose $8,000 a year in income, based on the previous toll level of $15.

There were to be numerous exemptions as well as a low income discount plan and discounts for drivers entering the tolling zone more than 10 times in a month.

The governor of neighboring New Jersey, Phil Murphy, which shares several road crossings with Manhattan, said he was "firmly opposed to any attempt to force through a congestion pricing proposal in the final months of the Biden Administration."

Areas neighboring New York city have argued that a charge would hurt their businesses and impair their residents' ability to commute into Manhattan.

"All of us need to listen to the message that voters across America sent last Tuesday, which is that the vast majority of Americans are experiencing severe economic strains and still feeling the effects of inflation," he said in a statement referring to the election win that will put Trump back in power next year.

V.Munir--DT