NYC Congestion Pricing Revenue Will Fund up to 1,000 Hybrid Refrigerated Trucks

Traffic to the Hunts Point Produce Market causes increased rates of asthma in surrounding neighborhoods.

1 minute read

April 2, 2026, 5:00 AM PDT

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


Row of refrigerated trucks with food delivery company logos under freeway overpass in the Bronx, NYC.

The hybrid systems will replace diesel-powered cooling trucks. | John J Kelly III / Shutterstock

Revenue from New York City’s congestion pricing program funded the purchase of the first 20 of up to 1,000 electric-hybrid transport refrigeration units used to transport items to and from a large produce market in the South Bronx.

As Jose Martinez reports in The City, “Replacing transport refrigeration units is among congestion pricing’s promised mitigation measures for The Bronx, where total asthma emergency room visits from 2022 to 2024 far outpaced rates from other boroughs, according to state Health Department data.”

The city is buying the first 20 hybrid units now and plans to add another 75 to the fleet later this year. According to Janno Lieber, MTA chairperson and chief executive, “Replacing just one of these units avoids the particulate matter, the emissions, of 330 truck trips per day on the Cross Bronx Expressway.”

The initiative to replace diesel trucks is one of the benefits that congestion pricing is having outside the toll zone itself, where air pollution has fallen by more than 20% since the program started. 

Wednesday, April 1, 2026 in The City

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