As Daniel Ludwig, who lives in Weehawken, New Jersey, told the Times, his life has gotten better since congestion pricing kicked in, saying, “I finally taught myself to use the subway. Between the tunnel toll, congestion pricing and parking, I’m saving an enormous amount of money, time and inconvenience.” But life has also improved for the people who actually live in the city, too.
Vehicle noise complaints inside the zone are down 17%, and, as Manhattan resident Grant Louis told the Times, “It turns out that mostly when people say ‘New York is noisy’ they really mean ‘cars are noisy.'” Fellow Manhattan resident Melanie DuPuis agreed, telling the paper, “Midtown is so much quieter now.”
More importantly, the streets are also safer. Crash data shows that the number of serious injuries reported is down 8.6% inside the zone and down 1.6% in the rest of the city. The people have noticed, too, with Brooklyn resident Charlie Rokosny saying, “Fewer cars honking, fewer cars running red lights, fewer cars blocking crosswalks.” Or, as Manhattan resident Alice Baruch put it, “Nobody’s trying to run me over.” That’s especially notable when you consider that traffic speeds are also up. You don’t usually see safety improve when cars move faster.
That said, we haven’t seen conclusive evidence of better air quality, even if there are plenty of anecdotes that support the claim, including Brooklyn’s Rob Hult, who said, “As an asthmatic, I can also palpably feel improvements in the air quality.”:
One final aim of congestion pricing — improved air quality — has the potential to benefit everyone in the region. But the data remains inconclusive so far. A recent study from researchers at Cornell found a 22 percent improvement in one air quality measure over six months. But another analysis, by the Stanford and Yale authors, found little to no effect on air quality using local community sensors and comparing New York with other cities. And the M.T.A.’s own analysis of the program’s first year found no significant change in measured concentrations of vehicle-related air pollutants.
