Huge Deficits Linger for the MTA Without Congestion Pricing, DiNapoli Says

Any New Yorker will tell you that time is money, and the time Gov. Kathy Hochul has spent delaying congestion pricing has cost the Metropolitan Transportation Authority a hefty sum.

Since abruptly pausing the tolling program indefinitely in June, the MTA’s budget could come up short by $211 million this year, and that budget gap could increase to $652 million in 2028, according to a report from New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

Hochul halted the implementation of the $15 toll for motorists driving into Manhattan below 60th Street weeks before it was set to go into effect, so the MTA had to reimagine its immediate future with drastic cuts that waylaid major improvement projects, including Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway. 

“A year ago, the MTA was looking forward to a period of solid fiscal health, but its financial condition has quickly turned from stable back to uncertain,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “Paid ridership is not coming back as fast as the MTA hoped. With farebox and tax revenues down, a pause on congestion pricing and other financial risks, significant operating budget gaps could again be on the horizon. This is a very real and troubling possibility.”

The MTA and the governor’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Another aspect driving the budget shortfall is lagging ridership on subways and buses, which has yet to make a full comeback from the pandemic, something DiNapoli said could be resolved by better service — which costs money.

In June, ridership reached 70 percent of pre-pandemic numbers, but July and August figures showed a distinct drop, which meant that ridership would not reach 80 percent until the end of 2026, DiNapoli said, referencing a report from the MTA’s go-to consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

DiNapoli did not directly advocate for the resumption of the tolling program, which was expected to provide $15 billion to MTA in the first five years. However, his report said that without an adequate replacement, the agency’s deficit could grow to $3 billion in 2028. That’s if there is an economic slowdown and ridership continues to go in the wrong direction.

Since her zero-hour pause on congestion pricing, Hochcul has faced plenty of criticism from transportation advocates, politicians and even the real estate industry, along with several lawsuits to lift the pause.

“Because of the governor’s recklessness, riders face steep fare hikes and deep service cuts along with indefinite waits for accessible stations, reliable trains and faster buses,” Danny Pearlstein, policy director of transportation advocacy group the Riders Alliance, said in a statement about DiNapoli’s report. “Gov. Hochul knocked our subway and bus network, which millions of New Yorkers ride every day, off its soundest financial footing in a generation. For a political gamble, she threw 100,000 good, green New York jobs under the bus.”

The state government and the MTA have been at work piecing together the congestion pricing plan suggested initially by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo during the transit crisis in 2017, and the program was set to finally come to fruition June 30.

The MTA already spent about $500 million installing cameras above thoroughfares to collect tolls via E-ZPass.

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.