New Jersey’s mayor is proposing the idea of reverse congestion pricing after New York City implemented controversial congestion pricing last week.
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, who is running for governor in the Garden State, also mentioned the idea, according to Fox 5 New York.
“New Jersey has the same opportunity to push the buttons that New York is pushing on us,” Fulop said. “We can do that to them, but the goal is to get to the table to find a reasonable solution.”
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Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop speaks at a rally organized by labor union 32BJ SEIU in support of the Newark Airport workers’ strike on March 31, 2016 in Newark. (Getty Images)
The mayor said he believes reverse congestion pricing is an appropriate response to New York City’s new tolls, which would charge vehicles entering congested areas of Manhattan to encourage people to take the subway.
“There are many crossings to New Jersey between Staten Island, Bergen County and Hudson County, New York,” Fulop said. “There are a lot of opportunities for New York to get the same kind of impact fees that they charge New Jersey.”
Fulop said money raised from station congestion fees should be used to fund New Jersey’s public transit system, which has struggled with delays and cancellations.
Congestion rate readers were installed on Lexington Avenue in New York City on December 18, 2023. (Getty Images)
“In my view, New Jersey transit is a poor product, we need to invest more in it, and we can’t responsibly assume that people will ride the trains until we have a reliable transit system in New Jersey.” said. “But this was an opportunity to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in New Jersey transportation, and I think the governor took a very easy political approach.”
Initially, there was a chance that New Jersey would receive hundreds of millions of dollars from New York City’s new tolls, but that fell through amid litigation.
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Indirect equipment installed on New York City streets for controversial congestion pricing plan. (Getty Images)
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Details of Fulop’s proposal have not yet been finalized, but he said gantries or toll sites could be placed outside of New Jersey’s tunnels and bridges.
He said there could be exemptions or credit crossovers, as with congestion pricing.
It’s unclear whether New Jersey residents will have to pay a toll to re-enter their state, as some New Yorkers do with congestion pricing.
