Driving Into Manhattan? That'll Be $9

New York's new toll for drivers entering the center of Manhattan debuted Sunday, reports the AP, meaning many people will pay $9 to access the busiest part of the Big Apple during peak hours. The congestion pricing is meant to reduce traffic in the city while also raising money to fix its ailing public-transit infrastructure. Most drivers will pay $9 to enter Manhattan south of Central Park on weekdays between 5am and 9pm, and on weekends between 9am and 9pm. During off-hours, the toll will be $2.25 for most vehicles. After years of studies, delays, and a last-ditch bid by New Jersey to halt the toll, the program launched without major hiccups early Sunday.

"This is a toll system that has never been tried before in terms of complexity," Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said Sunday. "We don't expect New Yorkers to overnight change their behavior." The fee—which varies for motorcyclists, truck drivers, and ride-share apps—will be collected by electronic toll-collection systems at more than 100 detection sites now scattered across the lower half of Manhattan. It comes on top of tolls that drivers already pay for crossing various bridges and tunnels to get to the city, although there will be a credit of up to $3.

Many motorists appeared unaware that the newly activated cameras would soon send a new charge to their E-ZPasses. "Are you kidding me?" said Chris Smith, a real estate agent from New Jersey. Some local residents and transit riders, meanwhile, were hopeful the program would lessen the bottlenecks and honking. "I think the idea would be good to try to minimize the amount of traffic ... and try to promote ... public transportation," said Phil Bauer, a surgeon who lives in Midtown Manhattan, describing the constant din of traffic as "pretty brutal."

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President-elect Trump, whose Trump Tower is in the toll zone, has vowed to kill the program, saying it "will put New York City at a disadvantage over competing cities and states, and businesses will flee." Lieber wasn't overly concerned Trump would unwind the program. "I think he understands living on 59th and 5th Avenue what traffic is doing to our city," Lieber said. (More congestion pricing stories.)