WASHINGTON (Reuters) – New York’s proposed congestion pricing plan that uses tolls to manage traffic in Midtown Manhattan must face an environmental assessment before it can take effect, the U.S. Transportation Department’s highway office said Tuesday.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) said an environmental assessment generally takes less time than an environmental impact statement. New York wants to charge a daily variable toll for vehicles entering or remaining within the “Central Business District” – a cordoned area stretching from 60th Street in Midtown to Battery Park. FHWA says it would generate $15 billion over four years for New York mass transit and would become the United States’ first congestion pricing toll zone of this scale.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
