In New York City, a planned congestion pricing scheme would charge vehicles traveling into or within the central business district of Manhattan. This disincentivizing fee, intended to cut down on traffic congestion and pollution, was first proposed in 2007 and included in the 2019 New York state government budget by the New York State Legislature. As of June 2024[update], Governor Kathy Hochul sought to indefinitely postpone the congestion charge. If the plan goes into effect, tolls will be collected electronically and will vary depending on the time of day, type of vehicle, and whether a vehicle has an E-ZPass toll transponder.
Since the early 20th century, there have been several proposals for traffic congestion fees or limits for vehicles traveling into or within the Manhattan central business district. A recurring proposal was adding tolls to all crossings of the East River, which separates New York City's Manhattan borough from the city's boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. In the 1970s, after New York City was deemed to be in violation of the Clean Air Act, Mayor John Lindsay proposed limiting cars in Lower Manhattan and tolling all crossings of the East River, but ultimately withdrew the proposal. Lindsay's successor Abraham Beame subsequently opposed the tolling scheme. Beame's successor Ed Koch attempted to restore limits on vehicles entering Manhattan, but the federal government preempted his plan. New York City was judged to be compliant with the Clean Air Act in 1981, and through the 1980s and 1990s, other proposals to limit congestion in Manhattan's business district stagnated.
A congestion pricing scheme was proposed in 2007 by Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a component of PlaNYC, his strategic plan for the city. However, the proposal stalled in the New York State Assembly. In response to the 2017 New York City transit crisis of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed a plan similar to Bloomberg's that would take advantage of open road tolling technology and provide a revenue stream for the MTA. In 2019, following another two years of negotiation, Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio agreed to implement congestion pricing in order to stem the ongoing transit crisis. Federal officials gave final approval to the plan in June 2023, but due to various delays, the rollout had been postponed several times. The plan was indefinitely placed on hold in June 2024, less than a month before it was planned to go into effect; as a result, the MTA had to postpone many of its capital projects.