After receiving final approval from the federal government this week, MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber on Wednesday said plans to install congestion pricing tolling have already begun.

“We literally hit the button on a notice to proceed for a contractor who designed that whole system, and who's ready to build it out,” Lieber said during an appearance on “Mornings on 1.”

What You Need To Know

  • The Federal Highway Administration on Monday gave final approval to the proposal to charge drivers to enter Manhattan below 60th Street

  • The proposed toll range is between $9 and $23 per day

  • The tolls are aimed at generating $15 billion for the MTA's capital plan, alleviating traffic congestion and funding improvements to the city's public transit system

He said the contracted company, TransCore, will have 310 days – about 10 months – to install tolling mechanisms around the congestion pricing zone in Manhattan, noting that drivers can anticipate fees to start spring 2024.

A tolling amount has yet to be decided by the MTA, but the proposed range is between $9 and $23 per day.

Officials hope the tolls will generate $15 billion for the MTA's capital plan, while also alleviating traffic congestion and improving air quality.

“We want to fund transit but the core purpose here is to make the air quality better, to eliminate traffic violence – fewer people being hit by cars – and also just to make it easier to drive around Manhattan for the companies that actually have to be in Manhattan,” Lieber said.

The state Legislature passed the plan in 2019, but the program had faced significant delays, but was given final approval on Monday, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat. However, the plan remains widely unpopular with commuters from boroughs outside Manhattan, New Jersey and the counties just north of the city.

New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer and New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, both Republicans, criticized the plan.

The lawmakers said the tolling would only “shift traffic and pollution from more urbanized areas to the outer boroughs and New York City suburbs, including New Jersey, disproportionately impacting our constituents who are being used to pick up the tab for the woefully mismanaged MTA that is running a budget deficit.”

However, Lieber believes that opposition will fade once the tolling program begins.

“Part of this is just adjusting to a new situation. I honestly think that folks are going to live with this very easily because E-ZPass and the whole system makes it invisible. No one's going to stop you at a toll booth,” he said. “If you have to come to Manhattan, you're going to come it's going to end up on your E-ZPass bill, and people are going to adjust.”