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New York Says Not So Fast on Congestion-Price Break for Toll Payers

Manhattan-bound motorists from New Jersey pay tolls of as much as $15.

New York Says Not So Fast on Congestion-Price Break for Toll Payers
Vehicles sit in traffic during rush hour in the Times Square area of New York, U.S. (Photographer: John Taggart/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Governor Phil Murphy said he has a “conceptual understanding” with New York on a break for toll-paying drivers from New Jersey if Manhattan congestion pricing comes to pass.

First, though, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey would have to adopt cash-free tolling at the Holland and Lincoln tunnels and the George Washington Bridge, he said in Hackensack. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which would use the revenue for mass-transit improvements, also would have to weigh in, he added.

‎"There is no deal on credits, exemptions, or carve-outs because the MTA will determine the tolls once the studies are completed," MTA spokesman Shams Tarek said in an email.

Manhattan-bound motorists from New Jersey pay tolls of as much as $15. In January, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a plan to charge Manhattan drivers south of 60th Street during the busiest times.

Murphy said he had spoken to Cuomo, and tolls-paying drivers “will be treated equally at all Hudson River crossings,” including the George Washington Bridge, which is north of 60th Street.

Cuomo spokesman Patrick Muncie in an email said the MTA “will consider all crossings, as well as New Jersey crossings,” and pricing will be determined after two years of traffic studies.

To contact the reporters on this story: Elise Young in Trenton at eyoung30@bloomberg.net;Henry Goldman in New York at hgoldman@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Flynn McRoberts at fmcroberts1@bloomberg.net, Wendy Benjaminson, Anna Edgerton

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