Following the controversial implementation of New York City’s congestion pricing toll last week, a mayor in New Jersey is proposing a reverse congestion toll.
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, who is also running for Governor of New Jersey, proposed the idea.
“New Jersey has the same opportunity to push the buttons that New York is pushing against us,” Fulop told the newscaster. “We could do that to them, but the goal is to get to a table to have a reasonable solution.”
The mayor believes reverse congestion pricing is the appropriate response to New York City’s new toll, which charges fees for vehicles entering congested areas of Manhattan in order to encourage people to take the subway.
“There’s plenty of crossings between Staten Island, New York, Bergen County, Hudson County into New Jersey,” Fulop told me. “There’s plenty of opportunities to have the same sort of impact fee that New York is putting on New Jersey.”
Fulop believes that the revenue generated by reverse congestion pricing should be used to fund New Jersey’s mass transit system, which has experienced delays and cancellations.
“My view is that New Jersey Transit is a terrible product, and it should be invested in more, and until you get a reliable transportation system in New Jersey, you can’t responsibly think that people are going to take the trains,” Fulop told the newspaper.
“But this was an opportunity to get hundreds of millions of dollars into New Jersey Transit, and I think the governor just took a very easy political approach.”
Fulop’s proposal has not yet been finalized, but he has stated that gantries or toll sites could be stationed outside of tunnels and bridges in New Jersey.
He mentioned that, similar to congestion pricing, there could be exemptions or crossing credits.
It is unclear whether New Jersey residents would have to pay the toll to reenter their home state, as some New Yorkers do with congestion pricing.
There was an initial possibility that New Jersey would receive hundreds of millions of dollars from New York City’s new toll, but that fell through due to litigation.
Fulop’s idea has not yet been formalized, but he has stated that gantries or toll sites could be stationed outside of tunnels and bridges in New Jersey.
He mentioned that, similar to congestion pricing, there could be exclusions or crossing credits.
It is unknown whether New Jersey residents would have to pay the toll to rejoin their home state, as some New Yorkers do with congestion pricing.
