CARVE OUTS CARVED UP: More than a dozen advocacy groups are pushing back against proposals to limit the scope of the congestion pricing toll program. State lawmakers want exemptions from congestion pricing tolls for a slew of New Yorkers — firefighters, police officers, nurses, veterans, Staten Island and Lower Manhattan residents to name a few. Seventeen government watchdog organizations, transit advocacy and environmental groups — including Reinvent Albany, the Citizens Budget Commission and the Riders Alliance — urged lawmakers Wednesday to oppose the carve-out bills. “The more exemptions we have, the higher the tolls go up for everybody else,” Rachael Fauss, the senior policy adviser at Reinvent Albany, told Playbook. “It’s sort of a death by a thousand cuts or a Pandora’s box.” There are some limited toll exemptions, including for people with disabilities and low-income New Yorkers. A push to keep the program robust coincides with the Trump administration reviewing ways to rescind federal approval in a bid to kill the tolls. The $1 billion expected from the tolls will be leveraged to borrow $15 billion in order to shore up mass transit infrastructure in the region. So congestion pricing supporters do not want the program to be weakened in its infancy. “Albany doesn’t need to be reducing the amount of revenue the MTA gets when they’ve got a huge capital plan to fund,” Fauss said. The carveout proposals have not gained traction in prior years. Congestion pricing opponents have argued the tolls have hurt people who rely on their cars. “A lot of these groups, I know they have good intentions, but they don’t believe people should be driving their car, period, in places like Manhattan,” Assemblymember David Weprin said. “When you are someone who relies on your car, it’s a significant part of their existence, their life, their family. You need your car.” — Nick Reisman MTA SHOWS OFF CONGESTION PRICING DATA: The MTA is touting new numbers showing a decrease in the number of vehicles in Manhattan’s Central Business District and an increase in vehicle speeds — but it's also warning traffic is expected to tick up each month until June, as it does every year. The new MTA data shared with Playbook shows 1 million fewer vehicles entered the Central Business District last month compared to the previous January — a 7.5 percent drop. “A 7.5 percent reduction in the number of vehicles entering has made a huge difference,” said Juliette Michaelson, the MTA’s deputy chief of external relations. “You'll see it in increased traffic speeds. But people also feel it in the fact that streets are quieter, calmer, people get to their destinations on time.” That’s not all. Pedestrian traffic in the toll zone saw higher growth than outside the zone, and Broadway shows also saw a 17 percent increase in attendance when compared to January 2024. Traffic injuries are also down 50 percent in the zone compared to January of last year. But city traffic typically peaks in June, Michaelson said. So while the January data shows a decrease in congestion when compared to the corresponding month last year, expect traffic to slowly get worse as we approach the summer. That’s just the normal pattern. “Traffic goes up every single year from January, incrementally, to February, March, April, etc. and it peaks in June,” she said. — Jason Beeferman OH CELL NO: Big Tech’s lobbying arm in New York is now on board with Hochul’s proposal to ban cell phones in schools. Tech:NYC President and CEO Julie Samuels is set to publicly endorse the plan in an interview on NY1 this morning, she told Playbook, calling it a “nimble, achievable, and a commonsense solution for distraction-free learning.” — Jeff Coltin More from Albany: — New York lawmakers are torn over Hochul’s involuntary commitment proposal. (POLITICO Pro) — A debate over how to address ICE raids is heating up in Albany. (Gothamist) — LGBTQ+ advocates pushed New York Democrats for support. (Times Union)
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