Congestion pricing in the context of "Airports"

Congestion pricing in New York City, also known as the Central Business District Tolling Program or CBDTP, began on January 5, 2025. It applies to most motor vehicular traffic using the central business district area of Manhattan south of 61st Street, known as the Congestion Relief Zone, in an effort to encourage commuters to use public transportation instead. This Pigovian tax, intended to cut down on traffic congestion and pollution, was first proposed in 2007 and included in the 2019 New York State government budget by the New York State Legislature. Tolls are collected electronically and vary depending on the time of day, type of vehicle, and whether a vehicle has an E-ZPass toll transponder. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) estimates $15 billion in available capital will be generated by bonding revenues from the tolls, which will be available to fund repairs and improvements to the subway, bus, and commuter rail systems.

As of 2024, New York City led the world in urban automobile traffic congestion, despite having a 24/7 rapid transit system. Since the early 20th century, several proposals have been floated for traffic congestion fees or limits for vehicles traveling into or within the Manhattan central business district. A recurring proposal was adding tolls to all crossings of the East River, which separates the borough of Manhattan from the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens.

Road pricing are direct charges levied for the use of roads, including road tolls, distance or time-based fees, congestion charges and charges designed to discourage the use of certain classes of vehicle, fuel sources or more polluting vehicles. These charges may be used primarily for revenue generation, usually for road infrastructure financing, or as a transportation demand management tool to reduce peak hour private vehicle travel and the associated traffic congestion or other social and environmental negative externalities associated with road travel such as air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, visual intrusion, noise pollution and road traffic collisions.

In most countries toll roads, toll bridges and toll tunnels are often used primarily for revenue generation to repay long-term debt issued to finance the toll facility, or to finance capacity expansion, operations, and maintenance of the facility itself, or simply as general tax funds. Road congestion pricing for entering an urban area, or pollution charges levied on vehicles with higher tailpipe emissions are typical schemes implemented to price externalities. The application of congestion charges is currently limited to a small number of cities and urban roads, and the notable schemes include the Electronic Road Pricing in Singapore, the London congestion charge, the Stockholm congestion tax, the Milan Area C, and high-occupancy toll lanes in the United States. Examples of pollution pricing schemes include the London low emission zone and the discontinued Ecopass in Milan. In some European countries there is a period-based charge for the use of motorways and expressways, based on a vignette or sticker attached to a vehicle, and in a few countries vignettes are required for the use of any road. Mileage-based usage fees (MBUF) or distance-based charging has been implemented for heavy vehicles based on truck weight and distance traveled in New Zealand (called RUC), Switzerland (LSVA), Germany (LKW-Maut), Austria (Go-Maut), Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and in four U.S. states: Oregon, New York, Kentucky, and New Mexico.

The London congestion charge is a fee charged on most cars and motor vehicles being driven within the Congestion Charge Zone (CCZ) in Central London between 7:00 am and 6:00 pm Monday to Friday, and between 12:00 noon and 6:00 pm Saturday and Sunday. Enforcement is primarily based on automatic number-plate recognition (ANPR).

Inspired by Singapore's Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system after London officials had travelled to the country, the charge was first introduced on 17 February 2003. The London charge zone is one of the largest congestion charge zones in the world, despite the removal of the Western Extension which operated between February 2007 and January 2011. The charge not only helps to reduce high traffic flow in the city streets, but also reduces air and noise pollution in the central London area and raises investment funds for London's transport system.