Compass created a dashboard to see if congestion pricing reduced travel times in the short term.
This analysis was exploratory. Further research is required to understand long-term effects of congestion pricing.
On January 5th 2025, New York launched the Congestion Relief Zone (CRZ) in Manhattan below 60th Street. As the nation’s first congestion pricing program, the CRZ aims to reduce traffic and prevent gridlock by charging drivers a toll based on time of day and vehicle type.
Compass built a dashboard to see if the CRZ was effective at changing travel patterns. To do this, Compass performed a before-and-during analysis, comparing:
- Travel times before the CRZ started (December 1-7, 2024),
- Travel times the week the CRZ started (January 5-11, 2025).
Before the CRZ was introduced, the average travel time for trips ending in the CRZ was 54 minutes. For vehicles passing through, the average trip time was 72 minutes. Over 95% of these trips were made by Light Vehicles (LVs, e.g. cars as defined by NSW Government guidelines) and started in New York city (61%), with some trips coming from Yonkers and out-of-state New Jersey.
In the first week the CRZ was introduced, average travel times slightly decreased to 43 minutes for trips ending in the CRZ and 61 minutes for those passing through - 11 minutes less than before the CRZ started. Again, most these trips were by LVs, and started in New York city (60%), with some trips coming from out-of-state New Jersey.
Residents living in the CRZ, also saw reduced travel times once the tolls were implemented. For those travelling within the zone, travel times dropped by 1-4 minutes.
On the Road Intelligence platform, Compass analysed all eight bridges and tunnels to understand the impact on inbound trips to Manhattan. All river crossings, except for Manhattan Bridge, the zone saw a reduction in travel times of cars, potentially as less people drove in or through the CRZ and used other forms of transport. Lincoln Tunnel saw the biggest decrease in travel time - from 3:18 minutes before the CRZ to 1:28 minutes when the CRZ started. Speeds for inbound trips on river crossings also increased up to 21.91mph.
Connected vehicle data shows the CRZ was effective at reducing travel times in the short-term, a sign of the potential reduction in traffic as drivers used other forms of transport. Inbound travel times on river crossings and trips within the CRZ improved after tolls started, highlighting its positive impact on driver behaviour.
More analysis is required to understand how the CRZ will perform in the long-term.
To read the full paper click here.