Boston officials are proposing a $15 fee for commuters who opt for driving instead of public transportation when traveling into the city. While alarming, the idea is not so far-fetched. The proposal from City Councilor, Tania Fernandes Anderson, is actually inspired by an existing law in New York City that charges up to $15 per vehicle for driving into certain parts of Manhattan.
The major pushback from civilians and fellow lawmakers is that Boston’s public transit is not reliable enough to warrant such a law. As the city with the “fourth worst traffic in the world,” commuters can spend an average of 2 hours each way in daily city traffic. Many Bostonians are very vocal about their frustrations with Boston traffic, some even joking “they could pay me $15 to not drive into Boston instead!”
But traffic remains congested as the Commuter Rail is not fully accessible and the MBTA inner-city lines remain unreliable. Additionally, skyrocketing rent prices prevent many who work in Boston from being able to afford rent in the city.
Congestion Pricing for Boston?
Congestion pricing is already implemented in its initial stages in Manhattan. Fees are applied based on the size of the vehicle coming into the city. Here is the pricing structure in New York:
- Passenger vehicles: $15
- Small trucks (like box trucks, moving vans, etc.): $24
- Large trucks: $36
- Motorcycles: $7.50
I am of the mindset that we as a city should use the tax dollars, our constituents’ resources, to invest in transitioning populations or different families, especially of marginalized backgrounds to be able to get them to a place where transit transportation is an option,” she said. “Not forcing this as a policy on the city, but [I] just want to have a conversation about the possibilities, said Fernandes Anderson.
The “congestion pricing” proposed by Fernandes Anderson so far only notes a $15 fee for passenger vehicles driving into Boston.