Since New York City introduced congestion pricing in January 2025, the state has heralded significant reductions in traffic and rush hour delays, fewer crashes and noise complaints, and toll revenue projected to hit $500 million by the end of the year.
All those points are obvious with any measure that reduces car usage. What I’m interested in is the quality of life impact of those who now have to take public transport or walk to places because they can’t afford the added cost. What are their commute times compared to before? A particular bus having ~5.3% shorter travel time because of less congestion is nice, but can be overshadowed by that bus ride being much longer than a direct car drive. Does this limit activities that those individuals used to be able to do (e.g. being able to carry more items back from shopping)? It’s like saying laws criminalizing homelessness are an improvement because fewer homeless people are on the street (and instead are in jail or moved to different parts of the country).
I hate being reliant on a car and most of the time I prefer to find a place to walk to, but it really limits where I can go. If I want to go further out, often the bus takes 2-4x the time it would in a car where I live.
Quite often, the bus taking longer is because so many people are taking cars.
One time in Switzerland, I went to a club with some tour friends. We took a taxi, and it was a 20 minute affair to await it, get in, go, etc. Eventually, I said I was done and went home before the others. They were surprised I picked a bus to go home, and arrived at our hotel in 15 minutes.
In environments that prioritize transit lanes and don’t have many drivers on the road, it becomes a wholly different system.
Metering the effects in a city still making the transition is tricky. But, I can say New York is supposed to be better than my city, and I get by without a car here.