Opinion: Congestion pricing is key to fighting climate crisis
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Julie Tighe is president of the New York League of Conservation Voters. Photo via NYCLV
By Julie Tighe
In March, New York City was named the most congested city in the world, a jump from fourth place the year before. While drivers sit in traffic for hours, pollution from cars and trucks cause extreme damage to the health of New Yorkers and our planet. Over 2 million New Yorkers live or work within 500 feet of a congested roadway and as a result, face a higher risk of chronic respiratory illness, the impacts of which were highlighted by COVID-19.
New York has made important commitments and progress in creating a green power sector – the electricity sector now contributes 40% fewer emissions compared to 1990. Today, the transportation sector is the leading contributor of greenhouse gas emissions in the state, and emissions continue to increase.
Our over-reliance on cars is unsustainable and actively harms us and our environment. New York needs to make significant changes if we hope to reduce our transportation pollution. Congestion pricing is one solution to get us there and will help to address our city’s transit crisis, combat climate change, and improve public health. But with congestion pricing comes a need to improve our transportation infrastructure.
Our public transportation system is crumbling and in desperate need of repair. We need a reliable, accessible system that connects ‘transit deserts’ to our existing public transit options. Revenue from the congestion pricing program will be earmarked for these much-needed improvements for the MTA. The congestion pricing fee combined with a more reliable public transportation system will discourage New Yorkers from driving, resulting in fewer cars on the road. That means less traffic congestion, faster bus routes, and fewer harmful emissions.
According to a Tri-State Transportation Campaign report, congestion pricing would result in a decrease of 2.1 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions per year. That means a healthier New York—both our population and our environment.
This will have a significant impact on public health, especially in neighborhoods that are disproportionately affected by transportation pollution, including low-income communities and communities of color. Stockholm, Sweden implemented congestion pricing in 2006, and after its implementation, researchers found a 50% drop in childhood asthma rates and a 15% drop in particulate matter emissions; similar results here could reduce school absenteeism driven by asthma.
We have the opportunity to create a dependable public transit system, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve public health. We thank the Biden Administration for giving the greenlight for an environmental assessment from the MTA, a critical step in moving this program forward.
There is no time to waste when it comes to reducing our transportation emissions. Let’s take advantage of this opportunity to build back our public transit system and move forward with congestion pricing.
Julie Tighe is president of the New York League of Conservation Voters (NYLCV). NYLCV is the only non-partisan, statewide environmental organization in New York that takes a pragmatic approach to fighting for clean water, healthy air, renewable energy, and open space.
