After two months, it seems reasonably clear that New York’s congestion pricing plan – charging vehicles for entering Manhattan below 60th Street – has greatly reduced the amount of car traffic in midtown and lower Manhattan. Most of the press is about the increases in transit ridership, the decrease in the number of car commuters, and the tolls collected to fund mass transit.
There has presumably been a decrease in air pollution in the zone, although there I have not yet seen a lot of discussion about that. But, other than simply seeing fewer cars on the street, the thing I’ve noticed the most is the reduction in noise. It’s hard to quantify, but the reduction in engine noise and horns is real. Having a lot of people living and working in a dense city does not in itself make loud street noise, at least not compared to the noise machines are capable of making.
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