The E-ZPass New York website briefly crashed Monday morning due to high user traffic, one day after Manhattan’s high congestion pricing toll took effect for drivers entering the busiest parts of the city.
E-ZPass New York said the crash was due to “higher than normal activity” around 9:45 a.m. The website was operational again around 10:20 a.m., Fox 5 New York reported. The online hiccup came on the first workday with the new congestion toll in effect.
Democratic governor Kathy Hochul initially planned to roll out the program in June at a peak price of $15, but she paused it before the original start date after receiving pushback from New York Republicans and regional Democrats, including New Jersey governor Phil Murphy. Following the presidential election in November, she announced the program would start on January 5, albeit at a lower price, for now.
The congestion pricing toll will charge most drivers entering Midtown Manhattan below 60th Street $9 during the peak hours of 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m on weekends. The price will eventually increase to $12 in 2028 and $15 in 2031 as drivers adjust to the new system.
Drivers without an E-ZPass account will be charged up to 50 percent more for tolls delivered via mail, New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority advised on Sunday.
The stated purpose of the electronic tolling system is threefold: to reduce gridlock in Manhattan, encourage use of public transit, and fund New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority with approximately $15 billion to improve transit infrastructure. The money will go toward MTA projects such as reliable signals and tracks, modern trains, and new elevators for subway stations.
Hochul said the $9 base toll, while lower than the initial $15 toll, should still be enough to meet the $15 billion fundraising goal.
The controversial program comes about two weeks before President-elect Donald Trump is set to reenter the White House. Trump has vowed to permanently end the congestion toll once he takes office on January 20, but that may prove to be more difficult now that the program is underway.
Lawsuits to halt the toll have been filed, including one from New Jersey. The Garden State’s emergency request was quashed by a federal appeals court on Friday.
It’s possible the incoming Trump administration could join legal efforts to kill the congestion toll, which remains deeply unpopular among New Yorkers.
Fifty-one percent of New York voters strongly oppose the program, per a Siena College survey published in December. That includes 56 percent of New York City voters and 60 percent of downstate suburbanites who were in opposition.
Trump believes the tax will hurt businesses in the congestion pricing zone, causing them to flee the city. Midtown Manhattan is Trump’s home turf when it comes to overseeing his real estate empire.
“Not only is this a massive tax to people coming in, it is extremely inconvenient from both driving and personal bookkeeping standards,” Trump told the New York Post in November. “It will be virtually impossible for New York City to come back as long as the congestion tax is in effect.”