What Congestion Pricing Would Mean for the Subways

Good morning. It’s Wednesday. Today we’ll take a closer look at the congestion pricing plan for Midtown and Lower Manhattan, which could become reality next month. We’ll also find out about New York City’s plan to revitalize the docks in Brooklyn.

Credit…Andrea Mohin/The New York Times

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the subways, knows exactly how to spend $1 billion.

That’s the amount it expects to collect every year from congestion pricing, its plan to charge drivers who take their cars south of 60th Street in Manhattan.

The agency has set June 30 as the date to turn on the equipment it installed months ago to read E-ZPasses and license plates on cars entering the congestion-pricing zone. It might not get to do so at that time. Several legal challenges have been filed in federal courts, including one brought by New Jersey officials. That case was argued before a judge in Newark last month and is likely to be decided before the tolls would take effect next month.

Three other lawsuits against congestion pricing will be heard in Federal District Court in Lower Manhattan on Friday. One involves a challenge by a group called New Yorkers Against Congestion Pricing Tax, which says that areas like the Lower East Side, East Harlem and the South Bronx will have more traffic and endure more pollution with congestion pricing. The other is filed by the teachers’ union, the United Federation of Teachers.