Congestion pricing is a go — with a $15 once-a-day toll for most motorists driving into the most traffic-clogged parts of Manhattan.

The MTA board on Wednesday gave the green light to how much drivers will have to pay as soon as June as part of the first-in-the-nation congestion pricing program that will toll vehicles going south of 60th Street.

State lawmakers and then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo initially approved the Central Business District Tolling Program in 2019 with hopes of generating $15 billion for upkeep and expansion of the transit system and to reduce by 100,000 the number of vehicles driving daily into the congestion zone south of 60th Street.

“New York has more traffic than any place in the United States and now we’re doing something about it,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber after the approval on Wednesday..

The 11-to-1 vote locks in how much motorists will have to pay inside the congestion zone. Passenger and small commercial vehicles with a valid E-ZPass will be tolled $15 from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends, with the rate dropping to $3.75 after 9. 

Trucks and some buses will, depending on size, be charged $24 or $36 during the day and $6 or $9 at night. For motorcycles, the toll rate will be $7.50 by day and $1.75 by night. Some emergency vehicles and those carrying people with disabilities will be exempt, as will school and commuter buses, licensed commuter vans and some government vehicles.

Traffic Ahead

But even after being written into state law in 2019, congestion pricing hit gridlock at the federal level and even now faces a stack of lawsuits that could slow its planned mid-June launch. The litigation has already slowed the awarding of contracts on long-planned transit upgrades that include signal upgrades and the northern extension of the Second Avenue Subway.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey congressman who has been a vocal opponent of congestion pricing, blasted the MTA board’s approval Wednesday as a “rubber stamp.”

“Buckle up for the lawsuits and the public outrage, because no one messes with Jersey,” he said in a statement.

The cases, including one filed by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, are expected back in court in June. Barring a judge ruling against the MTA, the tolling scanners installed at gateways to the congestion zone will then be turned on.

Lisa Daglian, executive director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, called the numerous legal challenges “baseless last-resort lawsuits.”

“Put simply, congestion pricing is happening.” she said.