The cost of Manhattan congestion pricing and exemptions are still undecided following the second meeting of a panel whose members will make recommendations on fees and groups who do not have to pay.
“We want to keep the base toll as low as we possibly can,” Carl Weisbrod, the chairman of the Traffic Mobility Review Board, said after the meeting. “That means, the fewer special cases, the fewer exemptions, the fewer possibilities that are going to raise the toll,” Weisbrod said.
In this second meeting, members got details about how exemptions — like deducting bridges and tunnels tolls drivers pay from their congestion fee — will affect the price. The more exemptions and discounts, the greater the toll will be for every driver.
Transit union leader and board member John Samuelsen backed exemptions for some drivers, like cabbies — earning him applause from the taxi drivers in the audience.
“We should figure out a way to build it into the structure, put our minds together and figure out how the drivers won’t get shackled with the charge,” Samuelsen said.
Meanwhile, supporters and opponents of congestion pricing held rallies throughout the day.
“It will deliver faster buses, cleaner air, safer streets and better transit options for New Yorkers,” Elizabeth Adams of Transportation Alternatives said at a rally outside City Hall.
Taxi drivers rallied outside of MTA headquarters for exemptions from congestion pricing.
“A lot of guys are going to drop these medallions like hot potatoes,” taxi driver Nick Skafidas told NY1. “You’ll see less cabs in the street and that’s gonna be the end of the taxi industry.”
Weisbrod, the chair of the Traffic Mobility Review Board, said there will be at least one more meeting, but he did not have a date to expect their toll and exemption recommendations to the MTA board, which has the final vote.
But they are on a schedule — the MTA plans to have congestion pricing go live this spring.