CITY HALL — PRAISING THE START OF CONGESTION PRICING, NYC COMPTROLLER BRAD LANDER is determined to win over those New Yorkers who are “doubters.” Lander issued a statement saying, “Now, we need to actually make it work. The MTA needs to move faster and more efficiently than it has in the past to install new subway elevators to make the system more accessible. Modern signals and new cars to make it more reliable. Platform barriers and station gates to make the subway safer – those can and must happen very quickly.” Lander also emphasized honest, transparent data on how congestion pricing is actually working: what the reductions in traffic really are, how much drivers are paying, whether the toll structure is working.” He tasks the MTA: “provide honest data, be open to making tweaks if necessary and prove to people that it’s really working.”

Lander, who served City Council from 2010-21 before his election as Comptroller, said that he was already pushing for congestion pricing back in 2007 and continued doing so as the State legislature adopted the plan. After Gov. Kathy Hochul paused congestion pricing that was to begin in June 2024, Lander organized a legal coalition to fight her and put the tolling plan back on course, particularly before President-elect Donald Trump begins his second term at the White House in two weeks.