A New Jersey mayor is proposing the idea of a reverse congestion pricing toll after New York City implemented its controversial congestion pricing toll last week.
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, who is also running for governor of the Garden State, floated the idea, according to Fox 5 New York.
“New Jersey has the same opportunity to push the buttons that New York pushes against us,” Fulop told the outlet. “We could do that to them, but the goal is to get to a table to find a reasonable solution.”
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Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop speaks at a rally organized by the 32BJ SEIU union in support of a strike by Newark Airport workers, March 31, 2016. (Getty Images)
The mayor said he believes reverse congestion pricing is the appropriate response to New York City’s new toll, which imposes fees on vehicles entering busy Manhattan neighborhoods to encourage people to take the metro.
“There are many crossings between Staten Island, New York, Bergen County and Hudson County into New Jersey,” Fulop said. “There are many opportunities to have the same type of impact fees that New York imposes on New Jersey.”
Fulop said he believes the money generated from reverse congestion pricing should fund New Jersey’s transit system, which has suffered from delays and cancellations.
Congestion toll plate readers are installed on Lexington Avenue on December 18, 2023 in New York. (Getty Images)
“My view is that New Jersey Transit is a terrible product and should be invested in more, and until you have a reliable transportation system in New Jersey, you can’t think responsibly that people are going to take the trains,” Fulop said. said. “But this was an opportunity to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in New Jersey Transit, and I think the governor just took a very simple policy approach.”
There was initially the possibility of New Jersey receiving hundreds of millions of dollars from New York City’s new toll, but that fell through due to litigation.
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Aerial equipment installed on New York City streets for the controversial congestion pricing plan. (Getty Images)
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Details of Fulop’s proposal are not yet finalized, but he said gantries or toll sites could be installed outside New Jersey’s tunnels and bridges.
He added that, as with congestion pricing, there may be exemptions or passage credits.
It’s unclear whether New Jersey residents would be required to pay the toll to return to their home state, as some New Yorkers do for congestion pricing.
