Congestion tolls could be $15 — so, what now?

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board recently voted to approve the congestion toll rates that were recommended by the Traffic Mobility Review Board. In the immediate aftermath, elected officials and citizens raised questions.

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz is not a fan.

“I have mixed feelings on congestion pricing. I’ve never been a lover of congestion pricing, but what I do like about it is it will generate much-needed revenue for the MTA capital program, which is necessary,” Dinowitz said.

Even so, Dinowitz said he has distaste for the price tag of $15. He argued the price will be a hardship for a lot of people and, if the charge were $10, the toll would be high but far more reasonable.

Dinowitz said congestion pricing was first passed five years ago and the debate now is whether or not lawsuits will delay its June implementation, but the amount of toll itself seems set in stone at this point.

MTA officials have said the toll will result in 100,000 fewer vehicles entering the zone below 60 Street every day, but Dinowitz disagrees with this notion.

“I don’t really believe that. No matter what they say, the money is the reason that this is happening,” Dinowitz said.

With respect to alleviating traffic, U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres also has his concerns.

“Congestion pricing was an inevitability. It is a fact the MTA needs a dedicated revenue stream,” Torres said. “But I was concerned about the official environmental assessment showing a diversion of diesel-truck traffic from the central business district in Manhattan to the South Bronx. The South Bronx should not be a dumping ground for the diesel-truck traffic from Manhattan.”

Torres said Gov. Kathy Hochul addressed his environmental concerns in a plan to fund mitigation measures for the South Bronx.

In total, the area will receive $155 million to fund asthma clinics, better the parks, and remove pollutant-heavy infrastructure.

Dinowitz successfully scored a rebate for certain Bronx residents on the Henry Hudson Bridge toll last December, but when it comes to achieving the same for congestion pricing — Dinowitz is not hopeful.

“I think there are certain categories that deserve an exemption, but once you open the door the floodgates will open,” Dinowitz said. “There’s no end in sight for whom there could be exemptions … Everybody thinks they deserve an exemption.”

Riverdale resident Ann Cauvin raised another point.

“I have doctors in Manhattan that I go to and periodically I take the car service down,” Cauvin said, concerned with how much her future travels will cost with congestion pricing in place. The MTA maintains congestion pricing tolls will only charge a vehicle once a day for entering below 60 Street but if a car in a car service is making that trip multiple times it would hardly make sense to charge the first passenger the $15 toll and let the rest off the hook.

A representative from the car service Cauvin typically employs, Seamen Car Limo, said the company would go according to city law but have yet to determine any changes to its pricing.

For his part, Dinowitz said congestion tolls would change his approach to driving into the city.

“I try to avoid Manhattan like the plague but now if I’m ever holding an assembly hearing, typically we would do it at 250 Broadway, which is down near City Hall, but I would try to arrange it for some place not there,” he said.

The pricing approval means the MTA plans to implement the tolls beginning in June, so long as there are no hold-ups from the inevitable lawsuits brought against it.