Boston Eyes New York’s Congestion Toll: What Wu Said and What the Data Show

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu told the MBTA Advisory Board on Tuesday, Oct. 20, that her administration has been talking with New York City about its congestion pricing program, the first public sign that the toll that cut Manhattan traffic 11% in its first year is being studied as a model, and a revenue source, for Boston.

What Wu said

Speaking to the board that represents the cities and towns that help fund the T, Wu said her team has been “in touch a little bit” with New York officials to understand what they have experienced, GBH reported. According to State House News Service coverage carried by NBC Boston, she described New York’s toll as “a huge source of funding for public transit improvements” and put the conversation in the context of money: the economic environment is straining cities, she said, and Massachusetts voters face a record number of Proposition 2½ override questions this fall. She said she, Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn, the Massachusetts Municipal Association and the region’s mayors have been discussing revenue for a long time.

Wu offered no proposal, boundary, price or timeline, and the city has published no study. In an Oct. 21 editorial, the Dorchester Reporter noted that she told GBH radio congestion pricing could be a “win-win” if designed properly while stressing that Boston is still studying it. The city’s 2030 Climate Action Plan lists parking charges, tolls and congestion fees among measures to evaluate and explore, not among commitments.

Advisory board member Len Diggins urged officials not to shy away from talk of taxes, pointing out that New York pairs its toll with a payroll tax for transit, and suggested any funding request come with a clear plan for the money.

Why the state would have to be involved

7News reported that a Boston cordon would mostly affect vehicles on state-owned highways and bridges, which means the Legislature, not the City Council, would have to authorize it. The state already tolls the Massachusetts Turnpike, and tolling roads that are now free has proved politically hazardous: former Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt drew a backlash in 2024 after discussing tolls at the state’s borders while a Transportation Funding Task Force weighed options that included congestion pricing. A 2024 proposal from then-Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson for a Boston congestion fee lost momentum, 7News noted.

The timing is not accidental. On Oct. 20, the same day Wu spoke, the House Ways and Means Committee advanced a spending bill without the two-month gas tax holiday Gov. Maura Healey had sought. Chairman Aaron Michlewitz said forgoing the 24-cents-a-gallon tax would leave less for infrastructure and the MBTA, GBH reported, with AAA putting the state’s average price for regular at $4.25 a gallon, up from $3.01 a year earlier.

What New York’s first year produced

New York’s Congestion Relief Zone, covering Manhattan south of 60th Street, began charging on Jan. 5, 2025. Passenger cars pay $9 once a day during peak hours, 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends, and $2.25 overnight. Motorcycles pay $4.50 at peak; trucks and buses pay $14.40 to $21.60.

In its one-year review published Jan. 5, 2026, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority reported about 27 million fewer vehicle entries into the zone, more than 73,000 fewer per day, and an 11% average drop in traffic. Vehicle miles traveled inside the zone fell 7.1%. Morning rush-hour speeds rose 23% on average, with the largest gains at the Holland Tunnel (51%) and the Queensboro Bridge (29.3%). Bus speeds inside the zone improved 2.3%. The MTA counted 7% fewer crashes and 8% fewer traffic injuries inside the zone, a 22% drop in fine-particulate pollution and a 17% drop in vehicle noise complaints.

On money, the MTA projected more than $550 million in net revenue for year one, with $518 million collected through November 2025 against a target of about $500 million a year; it says the revenue stream unlocks $15 billion for transit capital projects. The Dorchester Reporter cited the same figure of more than $550 million, while 7News put first-year revenue at about $500 million. Subway ridership grew 7.7% in 2025, nearly 93 million additional trips over 2024, the Reporter said.

The legal fight is not over

The program survived a federal attempt to end it. On March 3, 2026, U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman ruled that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s letters terminating federal approval were unlawful and vacated them; the Justice Department appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on May 1, amNewYork reported. Tolling has continued throughout. In a separate case decided July 13, a Second Circuit panel affirmed the dismissal of challenges brought by Rockland and Orange counties, finding the $9 toll was not an excessive fine and did not violate due process, equal protection or the right to travel, according to Bloomberg Law. The federal appeal is the open question for any city studying New York’s model.

What Boston is already doing

Wu pointed to the city’s fare-free bus pilot, which she described as transformational, saying it accounts for roughly 150,000 weekday rides within Boston. The city also plans five free, city-run Link Bus routes funded by $11.5 million from the Federal Highway Administration’s Congestion Relief Program, to operate for three years under the current plan, and is issuing a request for proposals. Both are spending programs that a toll could, in theory, sustain after the federal money runs out.

The Spot Check Take

For drivers, the New York data cut two ways. People who kept driving into the zone got faster trips; crossing speeds improved by double digits at most Hudson and East River entries. People who stopped driving shifted to transit or parked outside the line, which is why curb and garage demand in the neighborhoods just beyond a cordon tends to rise. If Boston ever drew a boundary, the areas inside the Pike and I-93 already carry the region’s priciest parking, and the pressure would move outward to Dorchester, Somerville, Cambridge and the Orange Line corridor, where driveway and small-lot inventory matters most.

The timeline is the other reality check. New York’s toll needed state legislation, federal sign-off and years of review and litigation before it collected a dollar, and the federal piece is still in court. Boston has none of that in place, and the Legislature just declined to touch the gas tax. Nothing a Boston driver does in 2026 or 2027 is likely to involve a congestion toll. What is likely, sooner, is more of what the city can do alone: curb pricing, fare-free buses and bus lanes that take parking spaces. Those are the changes to watch.

What it means for you

• No Boston congestion toll is proposed. Wu described conversations, not a plan, and any cordon on state roads would need the Legislature.
• If you drive into Manhattan, the $9 peak toll applies once a day from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends; overnight entries are $2.25.
• Watch the Second Circuit. The federal appeal filed May 1 is the one thing that could still unwind New York’s program.
• Expect Boston to keep expanding fare-free and city-run bus service first; that is where the city has money and authority today.
• If a cordon ever comes, parking demand shifts to the edge. Drivers who already use driveways and small lots along the Orange Line and in Dorchester are positioned for it.

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