NEW YORK residents can avoid the new $9 congestion fee and even the trip fee when using a major rideshare app – but it all depends on how you book.
Beginning from January 5, most vehicles are set to be charged $9 when they enter the Manhattan zone at or below 60 Street and near Central Park.
Trucks face the heftiest fees during peak hours; ranging from $14.40 to $21.60, depending on their size.
But even passengers using rideshare apps, such as Uber and Lyft, won’t escape the tolls either, with an extra $1.50 surcharge added per ride, while New York yellow taxis will add on a $0.75 per ride fee.
Cars with E-ZPass will pay a lower fee than those without one and taxis and ride sharing services will bake a new per-trip fee into their prices: $0.75 for cabs and $1.50 for Ubers and Lyfts.
But Lyft have now revealed a new scheme that will credit users $1.50 every time they pay the new congestion fee in January for use on a future trip, either via Lyft or Citi Bike.
Taking to their blog, Lyft wrote: “Rides in NYC are among the most expensive in the country, partially due to all the government-imposed taxes and fees riders have to pay before even stepping into a vehicle.
“The new $1.50 congestion fee starting in January is on top of a separate $2.75 congestion fee riders already pay to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).
“Call it one small step towards our New Year’s resolution to help make rideshare in NYC more affordable.”
This works by sending passengers taking a ride into the Manhattan Zone a notification from the Lyft app informing them that they’ve qualified for the credit.
Once the ride is complete, the $1.50 will be applied for use on future trips and will activate every time a trip is made through the zone through January 31.
However, the credit will only be available for one week following the completion of the initial ride.
It seems New Yorkers are already feeling the strain of the congestion charging, with one driver branding the pricing as “crazy” after he was forced to pay $9 just for leaving his home.
Andrew Heiberger, who lives just north of New York City‘s new congestion tolling zone, still has to pay the fee because of a quirk of geography.
The divisive new program means almost all vehicles will have to pay a $9 toll if they pass into the zone, which covers everything on the island of Manhattan south of 60th street, at the bottom of Central Park.
Heiberger, a 56-year-old real estate development firm CEO, lives in a luxury building in New York’s swanky Upper East Side neighborhood.
Although the parking garage where he stores his car is on East 61st Street, one block north of the congestion zone, the exit is on Fifth Avenue.
This means he has no choice but to drive south on the one-way street and enter the toll-paying area.
Elsewhere, rideshare brands will be putting commuters in driverless cars despite cries of protest from unhappy customers.
One commuter said Waymo’s autonomous vehicles left him going in endless circles and warned Uber and Lyft riders to be wary of the new tech.
The top rideshare brands have announced that they are training staff to operate Waymo’s products ahead of a launch in the coming months, according to The Hill.
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