NYC Congestion Pricing May Be Saving Lives

New York City’s new congestion pricing program is reducing congestion and also making streets safer, with data gathered by Streetsblog NYC indicating a 51 percent drop in crash-related injuries in the program’s first 12 days compared to the same time period the prior year. “According to just-updated city statistics, in the first 12 days of congestion pricing — Jan. 6 through Jan. 17, which includes 10 business days and one weekend — 37 people were injured in 90 total reported crashes, down from 76 injuries in 199 crashes over the same 12-day period in 2024.”

As Gersh Kuntzman explains, “It's obviously too early for officials to take a victory lap — a safe one, that is — but a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation said the agency was ‘pleased’ by Streetsblog's number-crunching, though added, ‘It’s too soon to draw conclusions.’”