Add §1704-b, amd §1630, V & T L; amd §553, Pub Auth L
Provides that any resident of Rockland county or Orange county shall not be charged a toll for entry into or remaining in the central business district in New York city.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A1884
SPONSOR: Eachus TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law and the public authorities
law, in relation to exempting any resident of Rockland county or Orange
county from congestion pricing in New York City
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Exempts residents from Rockland county or Orange county from congestion
pricing in New York city.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Establishes section 1704-b of the. vehicle and traffic law to
exempt any resident of Rockland county or Orange county from the central
business district tolling program.
Section 2. Amends Subdivision 4 of section 1630 of the vehicle and traf-
fic law, as amended by section 2 of subpart A of part ZZZ of chapter 59
of the laws of 2019 to explicitly exempt residents of Rockland and
Orange counties from tolls, taxes, fees, licenses, or permits for the
central business district tolling program.
Section 3. Amends Subdivision 12-a of section 553 of the public authori-
ties law, as added by section 4 of subpart A of part ZZZ of chapter 59
of the laws of 2019 to exempt any vehicle which originates in Rockland
or Orange county from tolls, fees, and other charges related to the
central business district tolling program.
Section 4. Sets the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Residents of Orange and Rockland counties have been footing the bill for
the MTA for decades through payroll, sales, gas, and income taxes.
Despite this, our residents are offered only a few long, complicated,
and expensive public transportation options to New York City, including
a train that will indirectly take riders into Manhattan, with a transfer
required in New Jersey.
The plan to institute a congestion pricing toll, for drivers entering
New York City's central business district appears to be on track for
implementation in the summer of 2024. This new tax will mean that Orange
and Rockland commuters will be paying even more to subsidize new rail
and mass transit investments in communities outside their own.
The MTA estimates that commuters from Orange and Rockland counties make
up less than two percent of the 1.2 million commuters to New York City's
central business district. Granting an exemption for residents of Orange
and Rockland counties would not significantly impact the financials of
the MTA or the environmental goals of the congestion pricing program,
but would bring some fairness to the system that has taken, without
reciprocation, from Orange and Rockland residents for years.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24
A9300: Referred to Corporations, Authorities and Commissions, 58702:
Referred to Transportation
2021-22
No Same-As, S9579: Referred to Rules
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1884
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 14, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. EACHUS -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law and the public authorities
law, in relation to exempting any resident of Rockland county or
Orange county from congestion pricing in New York City
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new
2 section 1704-b to read as follows:
3 § 1704-b. Exemption from central business district tolling program.
4 Any resident of Rockland county or Orange county shall not be charged
5 for entry into or remaining in the central business district pursuant to
6 section seventeen hundred four-a of this article.
7 § 2. Subdivision 4 of section 1630 of the vehicle and traffic law, as
8 amended by section 2 of subpart A of part ZZZ of chapter 59 of the laws
9 of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
10 4. Charging of tolls, taxes, fees, licenses or permits for the use of
11 the highway or any of its parts or entry into or remaining within the
12 central business district established by article forty-four-C of this
13 chapter, where the imposition thereof is authorized by law. The
14 provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to residents of Rockland
15 county or Orange county.
16 § 3. Subdivision 12-a of section 553 of the public authorities law, as
17 added by section 4 of subpart A of part ZZZ of chapter 59 of the laws of
18 2019, is amended to read as follows:
19 12-a. To establish and charge variable tolls, fees and other charges
20 for vehicles entering or remaining within the central business district,
21 except for any vehicle which originates in Rockland county or Orange
22 county, and to make rules and regulations for the collection of such
23 tolls, fees and other charges, subject to and in accordance with such
24 agreement with bondholders and applicable federal law as may be made as
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03443-01-5
A. 1884 2
1 hereinafter provided. Subject to agreements with bondholders and appli-
2 cable federal law, all tolls, fees and other revenues derived from the
3 central business district tolling program shall be applied to the
4 payment of operating, administration, and other necessary expenses of
5 the authority properly allocable to such program, including the capital
6 costs of such program, and to the payment of interest or principal of
7 bonds, notes or other obligations of the authority or the metropolitan
8 transportation authority issued for transit and commuter projects as
9 provided in section five hundred fifty-three-j of this title, and shall
10 not be subject to distribution under section five hundred sixty-nine-c
11 of this title or section twelve hundred nineteen-a of this chapter. The
12 provisions of section twenty-eight hundred four of this chapter shall
13 not be applicable to the tolls and fees established by the authority
14 pursuant to this subdivision. Any such fares, tolls, and other charges
15 shall be established and changed only if approved by resolution of the
16 authority adopted by not less than a majority vote of the whole number
17 of members of the authority then in office, with the chairman having one
18 additional vote in the event of a tie vote, and only after a public
19 hearing.
20 § 4. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
21 have become a law.
