Traffic clogs Manhattan every holiday season, forcing pedestrians to weave between cars filled with drivers lamenting their life choices while blocking crosswalks.

The MTA has a tool to address the problem, but Gov. Kathy Hochul has so far opted not to use it. State law allows the agency to increase the price of its daily congestion tolls by 25% on “Gridlock Alert” days, when the city transportation department essentially declares a traffic emergency.

Shortly before congestion pricing went into effect in January, Hochul barred transit officials from implementing the surge pricing as a way to help clear the streets.

“Under no circumstances will I allow this discretionary 25% surcharge on gridlock days to be used,” Hochul’s office wrote on Christmas Eve.

The directive remains in effect, limiting the MTA’s ability to accomplish one of the key goals of congestion pricing: reducing congestion. Hochul’s order came after the 2024 election, when her party was whupped amid concerns over high living costs. The move frustrated Sam Schwartz, a prominent transit planner who coined the term “gridlock.”

“ I was very disappointed when the governor took that out,” Schwartz said.

Schwartz said he dreams of a more sophisticated congestion pricing system, where “we make it much fairer by charging people for how much of the central business district they use and for how long, rather than charging someone who goes one block to a garage, the same amount as somebody that goes 4 miles from the Upper East Side down to Lower Manhattan.”

Congestion pricing currently has a base fare of $9 for vehicles traveling below 60th Street.

“ The system we have right now is what I'd call a dumb system, it's a binary system,” he said.

The city's Department of Transportation designates 20 “Gridlock Alert” days per year, primarily around the UN General Assembly and holiday season. The department can declare more days if traffic gets especially bad or a major event comes to town.

The MTA makes nearly $2 million a day off the congestion tolls, and is required to use the money to finance major upgrades to its dilapidated transit infrastructure. A 25% price increase would increase the base fare to $11.25.

“The benefits of less gridlock will be especially helpful on busy travel days throughout the holiday season, and the best news is that millions of commuters will be able to beat traffic and take advantage of reliable and safe mass transit service to get in and out of Manhattan," Hochul’s office wrote in an email.

Still, pro-transit groups called Hochul a Grinch.

“Gridlock alert days should come with meaningful action, not just a gentle nudge,” said Danny Pearlstein with Riders Alliance. “Whether it's an HOV restriction or a congestion surcharge, New York leaders should make a bold policy choice rather than concede defeat to holiday traffic.”

Hochul is up for re-election next year. Mitchell Moss,  an urban policy professor at NYU, said imposing extra fees on drivers likely isn’t a winning strategy.

“ I don't think it makes sense to do it this year,” he said. “She should wait until she gets re-elected. The suburban voters will feel this is a tax on them because they're coming into shop… having a surcharge on the holidays would just kind of aggravate the opposition to it.”

Moss added that the MTA hasn’t helped make the case that it needs the extra cash. MTA Chair Janno Lieber has repeatedly touted in recent months that he’s overseeing a balanced budget.

“You can't have the governor putting a fee on when her appointee has said that they don't need money,” Moss said.

The MTA approved a plan to increase the toll to $15 in 2031 — but for now, Hochul isn’t increasing the price, even temporarily.

NYC transportation news this week

The European-style fare evasion crackdown. MTA Chair Janno Lieber said next month’s retirement of the MetroCard will enable the agency to ramp up its crackdown on fare evaders. Lieber’s planned enforcement blitz would come right as Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani takes office following a campaign promise to eliminate the fare on the MTA’s buses. (Lieber has dismissed the idea as infeasible.)

Some Staten Islanders want to turn right on red. Councilmember Frank Morano, a Republican, has introduced legislation that would require the city to study intersections in the borough where the rule could be lifted.

A permanent F and M switcheroo. Starting next Monday, the F and M trains will permanently alter their weekday routes and swap East River train tunnels between Long Island City and Midtown in an effort to save time for Queens-based commuters.

Grimy L trains. A crucial subway car-washing station in Canarsie broke down during a summer rainstorm and isn’t expected to be repaired until next year, leaving the MTA with no way to clean some of its filthy trains.

Bike parking drama. Shabazz Stuart, a Brooklyn-based creator of bike-parking pods, is accusing New York City officials of icing him out of negotiations and instead choosing a California-based company to install up to 500 bike-parking pods around the city.

Question from John in Queens

I know the M train will begin using the 63rd Street tunnel as of Dec. 8, 2025. Will the M remain a Queens local all the way to Queens Plaza or break off at Roosevelt Avenue like the F train does now?

Answer

The M will remain local all the way to Queens Plaza. But once it reaches that stop, M train riders will want to switch to the F. This is part of the MTA’s effort to unclog a pesky bottleneck at Queens Plaza where E and M trains must cross paths — causing delays that ripple across the E, F, M and R lines.